that Ireland, though in possession of the criminal law of England, has not the Habeas Corpus Act? That Act, which is a special privilege monopolized by Great Britain, is not even extended to Ireland; but Ireland has what is, in fact, equivalent to it, and so has Canada. Would the noble Lord then desire, that those new conquered subjects of England, against whom he shews such strong and irreconcileable hatred, should be indulged with a privilege which even Liberty herself seems to be jealous of, and which has, hitherto, been denied to the loyal inhabitants of Ireland? I My Lords, he does desire it; he would do any thing to answer his purposes—to increase the storm—to perplex, to distress Administration. Animated by these views, I am not surprised, that he hates the nobility of every country; they stand in his way. He would rub them out of his system of Government. He has told your Lordships that it is the Noblesse, and the Priests of Canada, that are only benefited by this Bill; and that it Would be better for the Province, if both Prelates and Nobility were whipped out of it: these are his Lordship's sentiments; Republican sentiments, my Lords, which, with Jess impropriety, might have come from the mouth of a factious burgher of Geneva, but which are foreign from the genius of the British Constitution. He concluded with calling upon Administration to know what the Spaniards were about, affirming that the great Armament fitting out in the Spanish Ports could not be intended against the Moors.

The Duke of Manchester replied to the charges of faction thrown out by the last noble Lord on Opposition in general. He said, he often happened to differ from Administration; but he had never till that day heard such difference of opinion directly imputed as a crime, or branded with an indecent and ill-founded epithet.

The Earl of Rochford. As far as it may be consistent with the nature of my office, I will inform the House of what I know concerning the Armament the noble Lord speaks of. By the best accounts I have been able to collect, the Armament consists of no more than twelve or thirteen Men-of-War of the line at most; what the inferiour Vessels of force, or the number of Frigates may be, I cannot precisely say. I understand, the Land Forces, so far from being prepared to get aboard the Transports, at a short warning, though they may amount to about thirty thousand men, are composed partly of Cavalry and Guards, which can never be meant for a Naval Expedition. Whatever suspicions such appearances may create, I am to inform your Lordships, that our Minister at the Court of Madrid has been instructed to press for explanations, and has received the strongest assurances, that nothing was intended against Great Britain or her allies. I cannot say that I have any great reliance on assurances in general; but yet, ridiculous as it may appear to us, that the Spaniards should incur so immense an expense, in preparations for chastising the Moors: when their policy and religion are considered, and that the Moorish war is taken up on conscientious notions of religion, our wonder will in a great measure cease. Besides, there are many other motives which might, probably, induce Spain to arm at this time, without having any hostile intentions against this country. Sicily is disturbed by civil commotion, and threatened with latent discontents, which his Catholic Majesty feels for, almost as much as if they were in his own Kingdom. A kind of war actually subsists between Spain and Portugal in the Brazils. There is a revolt in Mexico, and the total silence of the Consuls and the Merchants, whose business it is to give information, join to strengthen me in the same opinion. The Portuguese Envoy at this Court seems perfectly undisturbed, and free from apprehensions of any invasion of his country; and that if he should be mistaken, and that those Armaments are actually intended against Portugal, I shall, for my part, think Great Britain as much interested in the event, as if part of her own dominions were actually attacked.

The Earl of Bristol. I have not the least doubt, my Lords, but the Spaniards have a very powerful Naval Armament in great forwardness for the Sea; and though I cannot think, from the tonnage and construction of the Transports, they are calculated to convey Troops beyond the Ocean, yet I must confess, Britain, however conscious she may be of her Naval superiority, has just reason to be seriously alarmed. The noble Earl speaks of insurrections in Mexico, of a kind of war at present subsisting between the subjects of his Catholic Majesty and the Portuguese in the Brazils: and how deeply his Catholic Majesty concerns himself in the latent discontents which threaten to disturb the kingdom of Sicily. I need not repeat again, that, in my opinion, this Armament can never be intended to cross the Ocean; neither do I think, if the transport service were calculated for that purpose, would it be at all necessary to collect such a strong military force, so near the waterside; And I beg leave to differ from his Lordship, when he supposes they are scattered through the different Provinces in cantonments; for if I be not misinformed, though they are not, perhaps, just ready to embark, they are, nevertheless, stationed in such a manner as to Be drawn together at a very short warning. In such a state of uncertainty, if intended at all for actual service, it mat be asked, whither are they destined? For my part, if I were to hazard a conjecture, I should be inclined to Imagine for the Coast of Africa, for Lisbon, or Gibraltar; and the more so, against either of the two latter, for the very reason the noble Earl in office has assigned, that the Lind Forces consisted in a good measure of Cavalry, and the Spanish and Walloon Guards, who never serve out of the Kingdom, but who might, very consistently with their usual designation, either cooperate with a Fleet in attacking Lisbon or Gibraltar. Every noble Lord in this House, by consulting the situation of the rendezvous, and its vicinity to Gibraltar, may readily conclude with what facility the Fleet and Transports might turn down into Gibraltar Bay. It is true, that Gibraltar is almost invulnerable on the land side, and that very strong defences and additional works have been, within the three or four last years, erected towards the sea. Yet, how much soever I may be inclined to depend on the bravery of the Troops, and the ability of the Officers in superiour command, I would feel very sensibly for the fate of that fortress, if attacked, and if not quickly relieved by Naval succours from England. I am certain, before those additional works were raised, it could not hold out against a Fleet of seventeen Ships-of-the-Line a single day; and even now it is possible it would be obliged to submit in a week, though it might hold out much longer. A great deal will, however, depend, should such a disagreeable event take place, on the present state of our Navy. If we have a force equal or superiour to theirs, ready at a short notice, it is probable the gallantry of the Troops might be able to baffle every attempt of the assailants, till succours should arrive. The noble Earl, at the head of the Admiralty, who has, much to his honour, done more than any man who has presided at that Board for upwards of a century, can inform the House, whether or not a sufficient Naval Force could be made ready, so as to answer the necessity of so critical an emergency.

Lord Lyttelton. I did not press the noble Earl, in office, to betray the secrets of it, nor divulge matters of state; I wished, only, to give his Majesty's Ministers, if they thought proper, an opportunity of averting part of the censure which might be, undeservedly, thrown on them, in case an unexpected blow should happen to be struck, and prevent the fraud and imposition the people might be liable to from a few among them, perhaps, who might have better or earlier intelligence than the rest. I have, it is true, no great opinion of Spanish politicks, yet I must abide by my former assertion, that I am convinced, however conscientious his Catholic Majesty may be, and desirous of propagating the Christian faith, and extirpating the enemies of the Cross, his Majesty, much less his Ministers, would never put the Nation to the enormous expense of the present Armament, merely to make proselytes in the wilds and deserts of Africa. The Spanish Cabinet is composed, like those of other Princes, of men of different abilities and dispositions; and business is transacted in it, as it is in all others, where there is no Prime Minister, by a plurality of voices lean never, therefore, be persuaded to think that a majority of men, trained up to publick business, could ever be led to adopt so preposterous a measure.' The noble Earl, in office, seems to place too great a reliance on the positive assurances given by the Spanish Court; and I will tell your Lordships why I think so. It is because I am well informed; I know it to be the current language of the