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never have witnessed that hearty union which now connects the safety with the glory of the land. It was also of vast and momentous import to the future conduct, continuance, and ultimate success of such a war, that the people who were to endure its hardships, should be fully convinced it was unavoid able; that they should be satisfied the government had exhausted every exertion to avert its necessity, and that its revival could not be deferred without a fatal compromise of the honour, security and independence of the nation. Indeed, this was a point of extreme magnitude; if we reflect upon the difficulties and obstacles which the late administration had to encounter at the beginning of the last war, from the want of that unanimity, which the moderation and judgment of their suc cessors have so happily retrieved. It was essential that the people should be on the side of their go vernment in a contest which originated in no ordinary dispute, but comprehended in the highest degree, their existence as a nation, and their laws and freedom, without which existence itself would be a burthen. Hence, the manner of preparation led the people by imperceptible gradations to reconcile themselves to its probable recurrence; and coinciding with the national temper, when they called loudly for war, they found its elements

already collected and awaiting the signal for explosion. It would be injustice to affirm that this state of the country was the result of an happy fortune; or of an unforseen combination of circumstances; for the war was universally expected long before the King's declaration; it was, therefore, the natural effect of the confidence entertained by the people, in the wisdom, fortitude, and vigour of their government.

Nothing more strongly confirms this fact, than the conduct of the nation. Had any dissatisfaction prevailed against ministers, it would have been expressed, for that was the time for its expression. Had there existed the smallest doubt of their integrity and capacity, some symptoms would have been discernable, or distant murmurs heard amidst that instantaneous and universal ardoar of patriotic devotion which broke forth on the return of Lord Whitworth. The circumstance of involving this country in a war, is always considered as a propitious moment for party to make its efforts: like the fires in modern Constantinople, it gives vent to popular opinion. Accordingly, at the commencement of the late war, it raged with peculiar fury. Petitions and counter petitions, from every part of the empire, poured in at the foot of the throne, calling for a change of men and mea

sures; and they were not a little fanned by that inflammatory letter, written by your lately recovered friend, the eulogist of the French revolution, which was circulated with astonishing activity, and read with eagerness in every seditious club throughout the nation. Not so, however, the state of the public mind in the year 1803. The Demagogue made an attempt, indeed, to pervert the public judgment; the whole vigour of his genius was summoned into action; but in vain. It was fresh in the mind of every patriot, that he had extolled the peace, because, in his opinion, it was injurious to the interests of his country; it was fresh in the mind of every man, woman, and child in the Empire, that he had lately returned from Paris, whither he had gone for the express purpose of paying his homage to the most bitter enemy of their country. A just suspicion accordingly hung upon every sentence of his celebrated speech, which was justly admired in the place where it was delivered as an extraordinary specimen of eloquent ingenuity; but out of it, it fell dead-born from the press. The nation was aroused by a sense of endangered independence and insulted honor. Addresses indeed, rushed in like torrents from every corner of the Empire, but not one of them manifested a sentiment of disapprobation, either of men

or measures; they were all unanimous in expressing their determined support of both, and their resolution to leave the field victorious, or perish in the struggle. Those days and those addresses will be remembered when we are no more. They will assuredly serve to warm the patriot breast, to animate the public affections, and to stimulate the ardour of our posterity in some future hour of trial; and, perhaps, the greatest subject of pride on which we may dwell hereafter, next to our having actually shared in the struggles of our country, will be, the consideration that we were partakers of those generous emotions of public spirit, which led to such grand exertions as those we daily witness *.

Ministers have been accused of a want of promp titude and vigour in their preparations; and if we were to give credit to all the falsehoods industriously circulated upon this head; we should con

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Yet Mr. Cobbett so late as the 8th of January 1803, two months to a day before the King's message, thus hails his country: "The minds of the people are debased; they have, by the conditions of the peace, and by the arguments in justification thereof, been taught to believe, that war, for any cause, is ruin; that it is, as we formerly expressed ourselves the accursed thing, and that it ought to be avoided at the risk even of life itself!!!!

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clude that the Empire was left wholly defenceless, Let us, therefore, investigate the fact. On the 8th of March, his Majesty's message was delivered to both houses of Parliament. The Militia was instantly embodied; the garrison battalions formed; the volunteers augmented; and additional ships commissioned, in conformity to those arrangements which had been previously adopted imme→ diately after the peace.

Lord Whitworth returned on Monday, the 16th of May. ON THE SAME DAY, His Majesty's Message was presented; orders were dispatched to every part of the world; and the very next day (Tuesday) Admiral Cornwallis with his fleet was off Brest. The result has fully proved, as I shall presently demonstrate, from the rapid successes of our arms in the West Indies, that the means of carrying those orders into effect, had been long prepared. In addition to the above, the Supplementary Militia was called out; the Defence Act of 1798 was renewed; measures of finance were adopted on a grand and unprecedented scale; the Army of Reserve was instituted; the Defence Bill, and generał arming followed. Surely such vast exertions de note promptitude, talent, and vigour.

But, here let me pause for a moment, to recal to your recollection, the extraordinary prediction,

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