to the throne; for the Petitioners assure the House that the trade of that part of the kingdom has most sensibly declined ever since the commencement of the present unfortunate and unnatural contest with America; and that employment for the poor has proportionably decreased in like manner, insomuch that it appears, by authentick and undeniable evidence, that the poor rates of the said towns have, during the last ten years, grown to an enormous degree, and are now become an almost insupportable burden to the inhabitants thereof; and that the Petitioners do not presume to arraign the wisdom or justice of Parliament, in the measures which have hitherto been adopted and pursued towards America; but, as intercession on behalf of their afflicted brethren in the Colonies, and in extenuation of the criminality with which they have been charged, they beg leave to offer that their resistance to the right of taxation in the British Parliament (from the claim to which the present unhappy differences have originated) has not, as they conceive, proceeded from an impatience of subordination to that high constitutional supremacy necessarily vested in the mother country, but in support of an usage, which a uniform and uninterrupted enjoyment of more than one hundred and fifty years had given them reason to believe themselves entitled unto, and which Great Britain herself had frequently called upon them to exercise in their own Provincial assemblies : and the Petitioners, therefore, considering that the vital principle of trade is peace and confidence, not war and distraction; and compassionating the tumultuous and irregular exertion of that rude yet manly spirit, whose features plainly mark its origin of British ancestry, and which, though misguided in them, was, through our common ancestors, productive of those blessings which make the peculiar boast of our happy Constitution, and to which we owe the distinguished happiness that the present august family are at this day on the throne of these kingdoms; and deprecating also the horrors of a civil war, the event of which, being in the hands of the Almighty, may terminate in the dismemberment of our empire, or in a barren and ruinous conquest; and therefore praying the House to take the premises into their consideration, and, for the sake of peace, for the sake of trade and commerce, and for the general safety, concord, and prosperity, of the whole empire, for the sake of our holy religion, and the glory of Almighty God, who dwells in peace, to adopt such lenient measures as may restore to this great kingdom and her Colonies that affectionate intercourse with each other which alone can prevent the manifold evils with which they are now threatened, and establish the national greatness on the broad foundation of equal rule, and the general happiness of a free, loyal, and united people.”

Ordered, To lie upon the table.

Mr. Burke then rose.* He said that the signers were all men who manufactured for themselves; and he was authorized to say that they possessed more than five hundred thousand pounds of English property. He wished the prayer of that petition to be considered as the exordium of what he had to say to the House. He complained of the difficulties which in civil wars lay upon moderate men, who advised lenient measures; that their moderation was attributed to a want of zeal, and their fears for the publick safety to a want of spirit; that on this particular occasion whatever they said to incline the House to lenity was construed into a countenance of rebellion; and so many arts and so many menaces had been used, that if they had not been opposed with a good share of firmness by the friends to the peace of their country, all freedom of debate, and, indeed, all pub-lick deliberation, would have been put an end to.

He said that, for his part, he was no way intimidated by all these machinations from doing his duty; and that nothing that could be threatened by those whose measures had brought this country into so deplorable a situation, should hinder him from using his best endeavours to deliver it from its distresses.

The first step for this purpose was to get out of general discourses, and vague sentiments, which, he said, had been one of the main causes of our present troubles, and to appreciate the value of the several plans that were or might be proposed by an exact detail of particulars.

He stated that there were three plans afloat. First, simple war, in order to a perfect conquest. Second, a mixture of war and treaty. And, thirdly, peace grounded on concession.

As to the first plan, that of mere war, he observed, that it was proposed in two ways, the one direct by conquest, the other indirect, by distress. In either of these ways he thought it his duty, before he voted for a war, to know distinctly that the means of carrying it on were adequate to the end. It did not satisfy his conscience to say, that the resources of this nation were great; he must see them. That before he could trust to those resources on the credit of what had been formerly done, he. must find the situation of the country to be what it formerly was.

He then examined what the Ministers had laid before the House as the means of carrying on the ensuing campaign. That as to the forces which they had made the House expect from his Majesty’s allies, all discourse of them had for some time, entirely subsided; he could, therefore, take credit for nothing more on that account than a handful of Hanoverians, which only answered the purpose of an imperfect security to some of our foreign garrisons. That our national forces to be employed in America, by the account on the table, amounted to no more than twenty-six thousand men. In this, credit was taken for the army now in America at full numbers. He could not allow that estimate; as, supposing the reduction of the troops in future to be estimated by the past, they must be reduced to little or nothing by the beginning of next campaign. That the troops here are only upon paper, and the difficulty of recruiting was acknowledged. On the whole, he saw reason to apprehend that we should not be very materially stronger at the beginning of the next year than we were at the beginning of the last. He said the probable number of troops, whether national or foreign, weighed very little in his judgment; as he thought the circumstances of the country were such as would disable them from effecting anything like a conquest of it.

That as to the predatory, or war by distress, (on the nature of which he greatly enlarged,) he observed, that it might irritate a people in the highest degree; but such a war had never yet induced any one people to receive the government of another. That it was a kind of war adapted to distress an independent people, and not to coerce disobedient subjects.

But his great objection to it was, that it did not lead to a speedy decision. The longer our distractions continued, the greater chance there was for the interference of the Bourbon Powers, which, in a long protracted war, he considered not only as probable but in a manner certain. That he was very sure this country was utterly incapable of carrying on a war with America and these Powers acting in conjunction. He entered into a long and particular enumeration of all the dangers and difficulties which must attend such a war.

He stated the condition of France at the beginning of this century, and even within a few years, and compared it with her present situation. He observed that, from being the first, she was, with regard to effective military power, only the fifth State in Europe. That she was fallen below her former rank, solely from the advantages we had obtained over her; and that if she could humble us, she would certainly recover her situation. There was now an opportunity for her making herself, with very little hazard or difficulty, the first maritime Power in the world, and to invest herself with every branch of trade necessary to secure her in that preeminence. He admitted that, at present, there were circumstances (which he mentioned) that might prevent her from availing herself of this opportunity. But, he said, we must be mad to trust such an interest as ours to such a chance; and that they who presumptuously trust to the extraordinary providence of God, by acting without prudence or foresight, deserve to be abandoned by his ordinary protection.

He then observed, that as he saw no probability of success in the detail of any of the arrangements that were proposed, neither did he see anything of authority to induce him to believe that they would succeed; not one military or naval officer having given an opinion in its favour, and many of the greatest in both services having given their opinion directly against it.

* No Englishman, except the members, were admitted during this debate; the only strangers in the gallery were four women of quality, and a few foreigners.—London Morning Chronicle.