in, the best eulogies, and the highest panegyric upon both the author and the peace; it is to convince your Lordships of this, that I rife to trefpafs for a few words on the time and patience of the House.

It is faid, my Lords, in the fpeech I allude to, that preliminary articles of peace were difgraceful, pufillanimous, and dishonourable; and yet, my Lords, these very preliminary articles of peace, difgraceful, pufillanimous, and dishonourable, as they are reprefented to be, are nevertheless made only because through the spirit and good conduct of the present Ministry, they are not quite so disgraceful in the ratification as they are in the preliminary articles,' no lefs the fubject of adulation to Minifters than they are, because peace, long wifhed-for peace, is at last established,' of declamatory joy and congratulation to the public.

But, my Lords, this being faid of the confiftency of this exordium in overture of Minifters, let us a little fee how the affertion, that the preliminary articles of peace were disgraceful, pufillanimous, and dishonourable,' stand in point of reasoning, argument, and fact.

It is faid, in a kind of logical procefs, though unac companied by any other fymptom of logic, that the prelimi nary articles were difgraceful,' and that they were disgraceful, * because they took away from the dignity of this kingdom.' That they were dishonourable, because better terms might have been obtained.' That they were pufillanimous, ❝because we made conceffions, when we should have had humiliations.' Affertions, my Lords, without proofs, reasoning without reasons, and arguments without a fingle fact to fupport them for what is this but to fay, that the preliminary articles were disgraceful,' because they were disgraceful; that they were difhonourable,' because they were dif honourable; and that they were pufillanimous,' because they were pufillanimous; and yet, my Lords, fuch is the

fupport of Miniftry, and fuch the way that calumny would afperfe, and flander ufe its tongue.

"But now, my Lords, to admit the truth of all, to admit that the articles were as they are ftated to be, and that their ratification were an act not of choice but of neceffity in the present Minifters: why not fay fo then? And why make that which is disgraceful, that which is difhonourable, and that which is pufillanimous, the fubje&t matter not only of unanimous parliamentary approbation, as it has been made, but of merit, boafted merit to Minifters, as well as of general acclamation and joy to the nation? For peace, long wifhed-for peace, fays the fpeech, is at laft eftablished! Can there be then, my Lords, as I have faid, a higher proof of panegyric and eulogy more strongly expreffed than this affords? And what is this, but as in the fable, to steal the lion's fkin, in order that the afs might wear it?

But it is faid, my Lords, that this country stood indebted to the present Administration for amending the ratified articles, thofe fhameful and difgraceful terms that were in the preliminaries.' What fhameful and difgraceful terms, my Lords? Does the speech know, and could it explain it felf even at this hour? Or is this one of thofe hardy and bold affertions, which much credulity and little knowledge are apt fo readily to conceive and utter? But, my Lords, here again too I will admit the fact; I will admit that they were shameful and difgraceful terms in the preliminaries; and admitting this, let me afk your Lordships, is it not fair, is it not liberal, is it not honest to suppose, that if the late Administration had had the conclufion of the peace in their hands, that they might not have rectified, by the definitive treaties, thefe errors in the preliminaries, as well as the prefent Administration have done? Nay, my Lords, it is not to be fuppofed that the late Administration, knowing better furely than any other could do, both the feeble and the forte of their own negotiations, that the other defects

too

too might not have been remedied, which have escaped the all-penetrating eye even of the present Administration ? And if fo, my Lords, where is the merit of the prefent Miniftry, and in what does the country stand indebted to them? On the contrary, is it not shameful and difgraceful in them to take merit to themselves upon fucli an occafion; and, inftead of praises, do they not rather deserve the curfes of the nation, if it were but for this very act alone, inasmuch as amended as the peace is by the prefent Administration, it might not only have been equally amended by the late Miniftry, but from their more intimate knowledge of the subject, might have been infinitely better than it now is? And therefore, my Lords, I do in my turn affert, and dogmatically affert too, that the taking of the peace out of the late Administration under the circumstances in which it was done, was an act of treason to the state, of a kind as nefarious and flagitious as any that ever had trial at your Lordships' bar.

'

And now, my Lords, I had done, if it were not for one thing more, and that is the beautiful little image that has been made the ornament of this fpeech, fo beautiful, that I cannot help taking notice of the bantling, and for a while. dandling it in my arms; for, my Lords, it is faid, the peace appeared in the shape of a ricketty bantling, dropped at the door of the prefent Minifters by its too hafty parents, and there begging their fupport and protection. They took it up, examined its defects, and as they found a kind of national promife made in its favour, they nurfed it, and by the dint of political art, kept it alive, until they could obtain a ratification for its existence, on the best terms that could be obtained for the benefit of its country.'

Such is the image, my Lords; and however rhetorical the allegory, however beautiful the figure, what is the fact and the truth? Was this bantling dropt at the door of Minifters, and did it there beg its fupport and protection of them? No, my Lords; and is not the very reverse of this

the

the fact and the truth. Were not Ministers rather dropt at the door of this bantling, and, under that shelter, made to feek their own fupport and protection? Or, rather, my Lords, may it not be faid with greater truth than in either case, that the taking of this bantling into the hands of the present Ministers, was a political ravishment of a ward out of the hands of its proper guardians; accomplished on the one hand by fraud, and on the other by force? By fraud, in making Viscounts of this House to believe that they were to be raised to Earldoms; and Members of the Houfe of Commons, that they were to be created Peers of the realm. Thanks to the firmness and wisdom of His Majesty, both have been equally disappointed! By force, my Lords, in having, under the cloak of this bantling, feized upon the Cabinet of the King, and taking, as we all know, with a violence unheard of before, forcible poffeffion of the government of this country. These are the features of the ricketty bantling,' as it has been called, and this the fact and truth.

"But now let us fee, my Lords, what the features are of the nurse, the fosterdam, the ftepmother, or the mother-inlaw, call it which you pleafe, of this ricketty bantling, and who is faid, (contrary to all experience) to have taken more care of it than its own natural parents could have done; and this, my Lords, I, in my turn, will represent to your Lordships; not in allegory, however, my Lords, nor in metaphor, nor figure, nor as a child of fancy, or creature of the imagination, but in real true picture, drawn from the life, and of living existence; and here it is, my Lords, (holding up the figure of Lord North and Mr. Fox in the print of the coalition diffected) ecce homunculus! My Lords! Vera copia examinata! The nurse of that bantling, which has been described to your Lordships; and to which nurse, I must entreat your Lordships' attention; not in laughter, my Lords, for it is no joke, but in fober serious earnestness; and to this end must humbly move the noble Lord upon the woolfack,

woolfack, that I may have leave to lay this figure upon the table, for your Lordships' examination; from which I vow to God, my Lords, I think, more real benefit might be drawn to the country, than from all the papers (important as they are) that will be laid upon your Lordships' table during the whole feffion of Parliament. For what, my Lords, must be the refult of fuch an examination? I will tell your Lordships. You will fee the Government of this country in the hands of this bifronted monfter. And in the name of poffibility, what papers can turn to use that are to have the direction of fuch an unnatural Lufus Naturæ as this is? But I have now done, my Lords, with a fingle remark only. However difgraceful, however difhonourable, however pufillanimous the peace is, I rejoice to give it to my noble friend who made it; it is his, and let him have the honour of it. A peace negotiated without connection, and obtained without corruption; though he saw at the time the spirit of a malignant faction staring him in the face. But the purity of his intentions, the firmness of his mind, and the wifdom of his conduct, have rifen fuperior and triumphant over all oppofition. It has met with what no other peace ever did before in the annals of our history. -It has had the unanimous fuffrage of Parliament, and the approbation of his King and country. apostrophe, therefore, to my noble friend, let me fay to him, in the words of Horace-Age, et fume fuperbiam que, fitam meritis.

Earl of Abingdon, Dec. 2, 1783.

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