Selected Speeches on British Foreign Policy 1738-1914 | Page 4

who talked of it as the noble
duke[3] now speaks of Corsica, France was permitted to take and keep

possession of a noble province; and, according to his Grace's ideas, we
did right in not opposing it. The effect of these acquisitions is, I confess,
not immediate; but they unite with the main body by degrees, and, in
time, make a part of the national strength. I fear, my Lords, it is too
much the temper of this country to be insensible of the approach of
danger, until it comes with accumulated terror upon us.
My Lords, the condition of His Majesty's affairs in Ireland, and the
state of that kingdom within itself, will undoubtedly make a very
material part of your Lordships' inquiry. I am not sufficiently informed
to enter into the subject so fully as I could wish; but by what appears to
the public, and from my own observation, I confess I cannot give the
Ministry much credit for the spirit or prudence of their conduct. I see
that, even where their measures are well chosen, they are incapable of
carrying them through without some unhappy mixture of weakness or
imprudence. They are incapable of doing entirely right. My Lords, I do,
from my conscience, and from the best weighed principles of my
understanding, applaud the augmentation of the army. As a military
plan, I believe it has been judiciously arranged. In a political view, I am
convinced it was for the welfare, for the safety, of the whole empire.
But, my Lords, with all these advantages, with all these
recommendations, if I had the honour of advising His Majesty, I would
never have consented to his accepting the augmentation with that
absurd, dishonourable condition which the Ministry have submitted to
annex to it.[4] My Lords, I revere the just prerogative of the Crown,
and would contend for it as warmly as for the rights of the people. They
are linked together, and naturally support each other. I would not touch
a feather of the prerogative. The expression, perhaps, is too light; but,
since I have made use of it, let me add, that the entire command and
power of directing the local disposition of the army is the royal
prerogative, as the master-feather in the eagle's wing; and if I were
permitted to carry the allusion a little farther, I would say, they have
disarmed the imperial bird, the 'Ministrum fulminis alitem'. The army is
the thunder of the Crown. The Ministry have tied up the hand which
should direct the bolt.
My Lords, I remember that Minorca was lost for want of four battalions.

They could not be spared from hence; and there was a delicacy about
taking them from Ireland. I was one of those who promoted an inquiry
into that matter in the other House; and I was convinced that we had
not regular troops sufficient for the necessary service of the nation.
Since the moment the plan of augmentation was first talked of, I have
constantly and warmly supported it among my friends: I have
recommended it to several members of the Irish House of Commons,
and exhorted them to support it with their utmost interest in Parliament.
I did not foresee, nor could I conceive it possible, the Ministry would
accept of it, with a condition that makes the plan itself ineffectual, and,
as far as it operates, defeats every useful purpose of maintaining a
standing military force. His Majesty is now so confined, by his promise,
that he must leave twelve thousand men locked up in Ireland, let the
situation of his affairs abroad, or the approach of danger to this country,
be ever so alarming, unless there be an actual rebellion, or invasion, in
Great Britain. Even in the two cases excepted by the King's promise,
the mischief must have already begun to operate, must have already
taken effect, before His Majesty can be authorized to send for the
assistance of his Irish army. He has not left himself the power of taking
any preventive measures, let his intelligence be ever so certain, let his
apprehensions of invasion or rebellion be ever so well founded; unless
the traitor be actually in arms--unless the enemy be in the heart of your
country, he cannot move a single man from Ireland.
[Footnote 1: Louis XV, in consequence, as was pretended, of the
Jesuits being allowed to take refuge in Corsica in 1767, purchased the
island from the Genoese, and after two years' contest, succeeded in
subduing it. The French minister, Choiseul, induced the British
Government to render no opposition.]
[Footnote 2: In the year 1735, by an arrangement between the Emperor
of Austria and the French.]
[Footnote 3: The Duke of Grafton.]
[Footnote 4: King George III had, by a message through the