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held out to the colonies before the war takes a wider and more destructive course, will lead instantly to a settlement, and recall the former years of peace, when the affections and interests of Great-Britain and America were one. But, if, on the contrary, we are to plunge deeper in this scene of blood; if we are to sacrifice the means and materials of revenue for idle distinctions about modes of raising it; if the laurels we can gain, and the dignity of parliament we are to establish, can be purchased only by the miseries of fellowsubjects, whose losses are our own; if the event is precarious, the cause alien to the spirit and humanity of Englishmen; if the injury is certain, and the object of success unsubstantial and insecure, how little soever the influence my poor opinion may have on this House, I shall free my conscience, by having explicitly condemned all such unprofitable, inadequate, injudicious measures, and by giving my hearty concurrence to the motion.

of poverty, anarchy, want and defeat, the exhausted colonies fall suppliant at the feet of your conquerors; admitting all this will be the case, (which cannot well be expected from the past) here necessarily follows a most momentous question: What are the solid advantages which GreatBritain is to receive in exchange for the blessings of peace and a lucrative commerce? for the affections, for the prosperity, for the lives of so many of its useful subjects sacrificed? Will the bare acknowledgment of a right in parliament to tax them, compensate for the millions expended, the danger incurred, the miseries entailed, the destruction of human happiness and life that must ensue from a war with our colonies, united as they are in one common cause, and fired to desperate enthusiasm by apprehensions of impending slavery? Or can we be so absurd as to imagine concessions extorted in a time of danger and urgent misery, will form a bond of lasting union? Impoverished and undone by their exertions and the calamities of war, instead of being able to repay the expences of this country, or supply a revenue, they will stand in need of your earliest assistance to revive depressed and almost extinguished commerce, as well as to renew and uphold their necessary civil establishments.

I am well aware, that it is said we must maintain the dignity of parliament. Let me ask, what dignity is that which will not descend to make millions happy, which will sacrifice the treasures and best blood of the nation to extort submissions, fruitless submissions, that will be disavowed and disregarded the moment the procuring oppressive force is removed? What dignity is that which, to enforce a disputed mode of obtaining a revenue, will destroy commerce, spread poverty and desolation, and dry up every source from which revenue or any real substantial benefit can be expected? Is it not high time then, to examine the full extent of our danger, to pause and mark the paths which have deceived us, and the wretched, bewildered guides, who have led us into our present difficulties? Let us find the destroying angel, and stop his course, while we have yet any thing valuable to preserve. The breach is not yet irreparable; and permit me, with all deference to say, I have not a doubt, but that liberal and explicit terms of reconciliation, with a full and firm security against an oppressive exercise of parliamentary taxation, if [VOL. XVIII.]

Mr. Burke shewed from the records of parliament and from history, that nothing was more frequent than enquiries of the kind now proposed; and observed, at no time within the course of his reading, did he ever recollect a period at which such a proceeding was more absolutely necessary than the present.

Mr. Graves wished to wait for the event of another campaign before the House should go into an enquiry; and as for what had already passed, justice required that the parties should be in a situation to answer for themselves.

The Solicitor General defended administration throughout, not only what they had already done, but every action of theirs, and every consequence arising from their conduct. He insisted that the war' was just and expedient, that the ministers abounded in wisdom, and the army and navy in military prowess.

Colonel Barré was extremely severe on several of the positions laid down by the last hon. gentleman; he compared him to the Abbé Polignac, whom he described as a pert, affected, little, political prater; with some personal allusions to the talents, manner, and disposition of the man, which created some mirth. But in a serious manner he charged the gentlemen opposite to him with the loss of America. With an emphasis he said, Give us back our colonies! You have lost America! It is your ignorance, blunders, cowardice, which have lost America. He had heard

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against the conduct of administration in the early stages of this business, which were only applicable to a state of hostility and open rebellion; the ground was changed, so would the measures of course. He appealed to the candour and recollec tion of the House, if any thing had been done in a corner, but openly, and accord. ing to their repeated judgment. As to the measures which had been taken before he came into office, he was not answerable for them, but was ready to stand the most rigid enquiry and examination into his own conduct. If miscarriages had hap pened, it was no more than what was com mon. It was impossible to foresee all the consequences, or to provide against every accident which might arise. He protested he did not seek for his office, and was at any time ready and willing to resign it, whenever a person more capable or fonder of power, was found to succeed him. He observed, that an hon. gentleman, early in the debate, had charged administration with wickedness, ignorance, and neglect. He was certain he was mistaken in the first, and the two others yet remained to be proved.

the noble lord (George Germain) called | fair way of arguing, to state objections "the Pitt of the day." He saw no great sense in the words. They conveyed to him that there had been a Mr. Pitt, a great man, but he did not see how the noble lord was like him. He said, that the troops, from an aversion to the service, misbehaved at Bunker's-hill on the 17th of June. He condemned administration in the strongest terms, and told them, that their shiftings and evasions would not protect them, though they should be changed every day, and made to shift places at the pleasure, and sometimes too for the sport of their secret directors. He observed, that the late appointment of a new secretary of state, was a proof that some weak, and perhaps foul proceedings had happened, which made such an arrangement necessary; but though changes might happen every day, he was well convinced measures never would, till the whole fabric of despotism fell at once, and buried in its ruins the architects, with all those employed under them. He reminded the House how often, in the course of the two last years, he had foretold almost every matter that has happened. He begged once more to assure them, that America would never submit to be taxed, though half Germany were to be transported beyond the Atlantic, to effect it.

General Burgoyne rose with warmth, and contradicted the last hon. member in the flattest manner. He allowed that the troops gave way a little at one time, because they were flanked by the fire out of the houses, &c. at Charles-Town; but they soon rallied and advanced; and no men on earth ever behaved with more spirit, firmness, and perseverance, till they forced the enemy out of their entrench

ments.

Lord Howe said it was impossible to go into the proposed enquiry with propriety, though the House were ever so well inclined. He defended the conduct of the commanding officers, and said that the whole of what had happened last year, proceeded from our not being acquainted with the designs of the provincials.

Lord North declared he had no objection to an enquiry at a proper season; but this was not the time. As America had changed, so had Britain, in consequence of that change. The question was now totally altered, and what in one situation would have been acting a wise part, would now be supineness, negligence, or something worse. It was therefore a very un

Mr. Fox replied to the arguments urged against his motion.

Then the previous question being put,
That the said first proposed question be
now put; the House divided.
Tellers.

YEAS

NOES

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Mr. Fox

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104

Sir James Lowther SLord Mulgrave - - -1 Mr. Charles Townshend So it passed in the negative.

240

COPIES OF THE TREATIES BETWEEN
GREAT BRITAIN AND
THE DUKE OF
BRUNSWICK, THE LANDGRAVE OF
HESSE CASSEL, AND
THE COUNT OF
HANAU, FOR THE HIRE OF TROOPS.]
Lord North presented the following Trea-
ties to the House :-

Translation of a TREATY between his
Majesty and the Reigning Duke of
Brunswick. Signed at Brunswick,
the 9th of January, 1776.

Be it known unto all whom it does or may concern, That his Majesty the king of Great Britain, having judged proper to propose to his most serene highness the duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, the cession of a body of his troops, to be em

ployed in the service of Great Britain, and his most serene highness having yielded with zeal and readiness to his Majesty's views, the high contracting parties have given orders for this purpose to their respective ministers, that is to say, his Britannic Majesty to colonel William Faucitt, captain of the Guards, and the most serene duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh to the privy counsellor de Feronce, who, after the exchange of their full powers have agreed upon the following Articles:

ART. I. The most serene duke of Brunswick yields to his Britannic Majesty a corps of infantry of his troops, which corps shall be entirely at the disposition of the King, as well in Europe as in

America.

ART. II. His most serene highness E also yields to his Britannic Majesty a body of light cavalry of 336 men, but as his Britannic Majesty will not have occasion for the horses of this corps, the said corps shall serve as a corps of infantry; and if the service requires them to be mounted, his Majesty engages to do it at his own expence.

ART. III. The most serene duke engages to equip completely both these corps, except the horses for the light cavalry; his most serene highness will keep in readiness for marching, towards the 15th of February next at farthest, the first division of this corps, consisting of 2,282 men, in such manner that this first division shall arrive, towards the 25th of February, at the place of embarkation to be agreed upon between the respective ministers as to the second division of the said body of troops, amounting to 2,018 men, his most serene highness will cause them to begin their march in the last week of the month of March at farthest. These two corps shall pass in review, at the place of their embarkation, before his Britannic Majesty's commissary; and, in order to prevent desertion in their march, his Britannic Majesty will cause the most precise orders to be given in his electoral dominions, that all necessary measures be taken to stop every deserter from this body of troops, and to convey them without delay to the place of embarkation, there to join their regiments. His Britannic Majesty will cause directions to be given to

the

governors or commandants of places, bailiffs, and others, to execute these orders with the same exactness as is observed with regard to his Majesty's electoral troops.

ART. IV. This body of infantry and of light cavalry shall be composed of five regiments and of two battalions, according to the lists annexed to the present Treaty. The officers' servants on the said lists shall be furnished with arms and every necessary equipment as soldiers; they shall do service like them, if occasion requires it, and shall be paid as such.

ART. V. The most serene duke engages to furnish the recruits that may be annually necessary for this corps. These recruits shall be delivered, after a previous notice of four months, to his Britannic Majesty's commissary, disciplined and equipped. The said recruits shall arrive at the place of their embarkation at the time that shall be agreed upon before the opening of each campaign.

ART. VI. The King's service and the preservation of the troops requiring equally that the commanding officers and subalterns should be expert persons, his most serene highness will take proper care in the choice of them.

ART. VII. The most serene duke engages to put this corps on the best footing possible; and none shall be admitted into it but persons proper for campaign service, and acknowledged as such by his Britannic Majesty's commissary.

ART. VIII. This corps shall be furnished with tents and all necessary equipage.

ART. IX. The King grants to this corps the ordinary and extraordinary pay, as well as all advantages in forage, provision, &c. &c. enjoyed by the royal troops: and the most serene duke engages to let this corps enjoy all the emoluments of pay that his Britannic Majesty allows them. The sick and wounded of the said corps shall be taken care of in the hospitals, and at the expence of the King, as the troops of his Britannic Majesty. The wounded not in a condition to serve, shall be transported into Europe at the expence of the King, and landed in a port on the Elbe or the Weser. As to what regards the body of light cavalry, they shall be put on the foot of the British light cavalry, when they are dismounted; but they shall have the same pay, as well ordinary as extraordinary, as the light horse of his Majesty, from the day that they shall serve on horseback.

ART. X. There shall be paid to his most serene highness, under the title of levy money, for each foot soldier or trooper not mounted, 30 crowns Banco,

the day of the signature of the present Treaty, and shall be single, that is to say, of the amount of 64,500 German crowns, as long as these troops shall enjoy the pay. From the time the pay shall cease, the subsidy shall be double, that is to say, of 129,000 German crowns. This double subsidy shall be continued during two years after the return of the said troops into his most serene highness's dominions.

the crown reckoned at 53 sols Holland, and reckoned at 4s. 93d. One third of this levy money shall be paid a month after the signature of the Treaty, and the two other thirds shall be paid two months after the signature. The payment of this levy money shall be made nevertheless on condition that 30 crowns Banco shall be retained for each soldier of the said corps, who, without cause of sickness, shall be absent on the day when they pass in review before his Britannic Majesty's commissary, which 30 crowns Banco shall however be paid as soon as the absent soldiers shall join their respective

corps.

ART. XI. According to custom, three wounded men shall be reckoned as one killed. A man killed shall be paid for at the rate of levy money. If it shall happen that any of the regiments, battalions, or companies of this corps should suffer a loss altogether extraordinary, either in a battle, a siege, or by an uncommon contagious malady, or by the loss of any transport vessel in the voyage to America, his Britannic Majesty will make good, in the most equitable manner, the loss of the officer or soldier, and will be at the expence of the necessary recruits to re-establish the corps that shall have suffered this extraordinary loss.

ART. XII. The most serene duke reserves to himself the nomination to the vacant employments, as also the administration of justice. Moreover his Britannic Majesty will cause orders to be given to the commander of the army in which this corps shall serve, not to exact of this corps any extraordinary services, or such as are beyond their proportion with the rest of the army. This corps shall take the oath of fidelity to his Britannic Majesty, without prejudice to the oath which they have taken to their sovereign.

ART. XIII. Towards defraying the extraordinary expences the hasty equipment of this body of troops occasions, his Britannic Majesty grants two months pay previous to the march of the said troops. And from the time the troops shall have quitted their quarters, in order to repair to the place of their destination, all the expences of their march and transport shall be at the charge of his Britannic Majesty.

ART. XIV. His Britannic Majesty grants to his most serene highness an annual subsidy, which shall be regulated in the following manner; it shall commence from

ART. XV. This Treaty shall be ratified by the high contracting parties; and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged as soon as possible.

Thus concluded and signed by the minister plenipotentiary of his Majesty the king of Great Britain on one part, and by the minister plenipotentiary of his most serene highness the duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh on the other part.

Done at Brunswick, this 9th January,

1776.

WILLIAM FAUCITT. J. B. DE FERONCE
(L. S.)
(L. S.)

Translation of a TREATY between his
Majesty and the Landgrave of Hesse
Cassel. Signed at Cassel, the 15th
January, 1776.

His Britannic Majesty, being desirous of employing in his service a body of 12,000 men, of the troops of his most serene highness the reigning landgrave of Hesse Cassel; and that prince, full of attachment for his Majesty, desiring nothing more than to give him proofs of it, his Majesty, in order to settle the objects relative to this alliance, has thought proper to send to Cassel the sieur William Fancitt, his minister plenipotentiary and colonel in his service, and his most serene highness has named, on his part, for the same purpose, the baron Martin Erneste de Schlieffen, his minister of state, lieutenant general and knight of his orders, who, being furnished with requisite ful powers, have agreed, that the Treaties formerly concluded between Great Britain and Hesse shall be made the basis of the present Treaty, and to adopt as much of them as shall be applicable to the present circumstances, or to determine by new articles such points as must be settled otherwise; every thing that shall not be differently regulated, shall be deemed to subsist in full force, as it shall appear to be declared in the above-mentioned Trea ties; and as it is not possible to specify each particular case, every thing that shall not be found regulated in a precise man

ner, neither in the present Treaty, nor in the former Treaties, ought to be settled with equity and good faith, conformably to the same principles which were agreed on each part to be pursued for regulating all such cases, whether during or after the

last war.

I. There shall be therefore, by virtue of this Treaty, between his Majesty the king of Great Britain and his most serene highness the landgrave of Hesse Cassel, their successors, and heirs, a strict friendship, and a sincere firm and constant union, insomuch that the one shall consider the interests of the other as his own, and shall apply himself with good faith, to advance them to the utmost, and to prevent and avert mutually all trouble and loss.

II. To this end it is agreed, that all former Treaties, principally of guaranty, be deemed to be renewed and confirmed by the present Treaty, in all their points, articles and clauses, and shall be of the same force as if they were herein inserted word for word, so far as is not derogated from them by the present Treaty.

III. This body of 12,000 men of the troops of Hesse, which is to be employed in his Britannic Majesty's service, shall consist of four battalions of grenadiers, of four companies each, fifteen battalions of infantry, of five companies each, and two companies of chasseurs, the whole provided with general and other necessary officers. This corps shall be completely equipped and provided with tents and all accoutrements, of which it may stand in need; in a word, shall be put on the best footing possible, and none shall be admitted into it but men fit for service, and acknowledged for such by his Britannic Majesty's commissary. Formerly the signature of the Treaties has usually preceded, by some time, the requisition for the march of the troops, but, as in the present circumstances, there is no time to be lost, the day of the signature of the present Treaty is deemed also to be the term of the requisition, and three battalions of grenadiers, six battalions of infantry, with one company of chasseurs, shall be in a condition to pass in review before his Britannic Majesty's commissary on the 14th of February, and shall begin to march on the day following, the 15th of February, for the place of embarkation. The rest shall be ready in four weeks after, if possible, and march in like manner. body of troops shall not be separated, unless reasons of war require it, but shall

This

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IV. Each battalion of this body of troops shall be provided with two pieces of field artillery, with the officers, gunners, and other persons, and the train thereunto belonging, if his Majesty is desirous of it. V. Towards defraying the expences, in which the most serene landgrave shall be engaged, for the arming and putting in condition the said corps of 12,000 men, his Majesty, the king of Great Britain, promises to pay to his serene highness for each foot soldier 30 crowns Banco, levy money, as well for the infantry as for the chasseurs, or artillery, if there should be any, the sum total of which shall be ascertained, according to the number of men composing this corps, and as they have been reckoned in former alliances. The sum of 180,000 crowns Banco, valued as in the following Article, shall be paid on account of this levy money, on the 10th of February, and the residue shall be paid when the second division of this corps. shall begin their march.

VI. In all the former Treaties a certain number of years is stipulated for their duration; but, in the present, his Britannic Majesty, choosing rather not to engage himself for any longer time than he shall have occasion for these troops, consents, instead thereof, that the subsidy shall be double, from the day of the signature of this Treaty to its expiration; that is to say, that it shall amount for this body of 12,000 men to the sum of 450,000 crowns Banco per annum, the crown reckoned at 53 sols of Holland, or at 4s. 93d. English money, and that the subsidy shall continue upon this foot during all the time that this body of troops shall remain in British pay. His Britannic Majesty engages also to give notice to the most serene landgrave of its determination, 12 months, or a whole year, before it shall take place, which notice shall not even be given before this body of troops is returned, and actually arrived in the dominions of the said prince, namely, in Hesse, properly so called: his Majesty shall continue equally to this corps the pay and other

emoluments for the remainder of the month in which it shall repass the frontiers of Hesse, and his most serene high

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