gives orders in their name, for the construction of double that number. The French fleet must now, therefore, be in a most formidable condition, and their seamen in a perfect state of discipline, acquired, no doubt, from their instruction on land, according to the humane and patriotic plan of Jonas Hanway, who proposed to the Marine Society to practise their eleves in the art of swimming on kitchen dressers.

If we turn our eyes from the consideration of the relative advantages which the Treaty of Amiens promised, and reflect on the positive good which it wrought in this country, it will appear, that, throughout the whole of our history, no peace ever produced such signal blessings. In 1783, the American war bequeathed to us at its close, a war of domestic parties, embittered against each other, and venting their reciprocal hatred with all the animosity of party. malice. But, in 1802, the definitive treaty caused no divisions in Parliament, or out of it; on the contrary, it made us an UNITED PEOPLE; it made us willing to forget and to forgive each other's faults; it reconciled all orders of men to the constitution and laws of the country; it created an abhorrence of all revolutionary projects, and a strong determination to preserve

what had been so often endangered by domestic treasons and foreign violence; it gave new life to the body politic, by healing the wounds, not only of the body, but those of the mind which bled inwards, of all others the most dangerous; it revived the spirits of the people, by affording free scope for the exercise of their talents, industry, and commercial genius; in a word, it inspired all of us with sentiments of MODERATION. In short, had the peace occasioned no other benefit to the empire, than the single circumstance of retrieving internal harmony, restoring a brave and worthy people, long soured by disappointments, and harassed by mutual antipathies, to their wonted good nature, and those social habits, for which our island has been ever renowned; and of collecting them ALL within the pale of one grand family compact, clinging to each other and to their country, by the strongest ties of loyalty, affection, and public zeal; I hesitate not to declare, with the pious impressions of those whom GOD, after many ́trials, delivered out of the wilderness, that Mr. Addington and his colleagues would, on this account ALONE, have merited the eternal gratitude of every patriot mind, of every friend to human nature; and the future historian of our times,

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joining in the theme, would have pronounced them the GREATEST BENEFACTORS TO THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

That this representation is not overcharged, permit me to appeal to every thing we see and hear; to the tens of thousands marshalled in their country's cause; to the lofty accents of defiance, re-echoed from one end of the empire to the other; to the sublime and affecting spectacle of an united people, resolved to live or die with their Religion, their Laws, their King, and Country. The late ministers could never have thus metamorphosed a distracted nation, and inducted it into the harmonious power of concord; they could never have thus collected and displayed the inherent strength of the island. Under them, the government was not generally loved, nor the attachment to our native land, carried to such an exalted pitch of devotion as now; for them the rural reed would never have piped to war, the busy city swarmed with armed citizens, nor the melodious notes of martial preparations have been wafted on the wings of glory to the vault of heaven. These cheering, these soul-animating scenes were reserved exclusively for those, who had hushed the sullen murmurs of discontent, and made us love each other.

The glorious unanimity that reigns throughout the Empire; the public spicit; the nationality of character; the proud resolve to conquer or perish, in this mighty struggle, are the works of Mr. Addington's administration. The triumph is HIS. Integrity, moderation, and wisdom, have, at length, met their reward in this world!

It is not a little singular, Sir, that your fac tion which still persist in declaring, that, while you were in power, you disclaimed all interfer ence in the internal transactions of other states, and never presumed even to call them in .qirestion; should have been so eager and enthusi astic to, manifest a contrary disposition, during the discussions on the definitive treaty. This gives a suspicious character to your former pretension. In your reported speech on the third of March, 1802, you contested warmly the right of the king of Etruria to cede the island of Elba, and of Portugal, in the arrangement relative to the limits of French Guiana, according to the treaty of Badajos. It may not be improper, at a time when you are coalescing with others to force your way into the administration of our affairs, that you should explain to us, the motiyes of this strange inconsistency of conduct. If

consistency be your chief claim to our confidence, it behoves you to make it appear."

Before I quit this subject, I shall offer a few observations on the certain prospects of advantage which the treaty of Amiens held out to us as a maritime and commercial people. At the end of the war, the whole continent of Europe stood in need of a stock of commodities. The French and Dutch colonies had acquired a partiality to many of our articles, with which they were little acquainted until we took possession of them. It was natural, therefore, to conclude, that they would be, in future, considered as: articles of indispensable necessity, to be obtained at any rate; so that, in the hands of their original masters, we should have had a great demand for them. At the same time, cotton is the only article of produce in the Dutch West India colonies, which we consume; and the duty on im→ portation being small, it would find its way into this country, as formerly; a circumstance peculiarly advantageous to the planters, who for the most part, are British subjects*. Their sugar and

*Twenty-six thousand bags were imported in 1800; and before the Dutch colonies fell into our hands, one-third of their produce of cotton found its way direct to this country.