Selected Speeches on British Foreign Policy 1738-1914 | Page 7

and to
leave
A name, which ev'ry wind to heav'n would bear, Which men to speak,
and angels joy to hear. To finish all. This great good, as in the instant it
is, contains in it the seeds of all further improvement, and may be
considered as in a regular progress, because founded on similar
principles, towards the stable excellence of a British constitution.
Here was a matter for congratulation and for festive remembrance
through ages. Here moralists and divines might indeed relax in their
temperance, to exhilarate their humanity.

Such, Mr. Sheridan said, was the description which the right
honourable gentleman gave to that revolution. Was it to be supposed
that he would afterwards say, that this ought to have been trampled
upon and destroyed, or should suffer such an event to happen, and
never utter a word upon the subject? He did not think that monarchs of
the present day had fulfilled the promises that some persons had made,
and which had been expected from them, so that their names might be
handed down to posterity as a glorious example of integrity and justice.
With respect to the future views of the different Powers, they might
best be conjectured by what had already happened. The Empress of
Russia, upon the sincerity of whose motives, and integrity of whose
actions, there could be no doubt, previous to the attack on Poland,
among other things in her manifesto, said by her Minister:
From these considerations, Her Imperial Majesty, my most gracious
mistress, as well to indemnify herself for her many losses, as for the
future safety of her Empire and the Polish dominions, and for the
cutting off at once, for ever, all future disturbances and frequent
changes of government, has been pleased now to take under her sway,
and to unite for ever to her Empire, the following tracts of land, with all
their inhabitants.
This was the language for which the confederates were to justify
perhaps the future taking under their sway, and uniting for ever to their
Empire, part of the dominions of France. We had heard much of the
abominable system of affiliation adopted by the French; but this was a
Russian impartial affiliation, and no doubt the confederate Powers
approved of it. In like manner will they affiliate all France, if they can.
So will they England, when they have it in their power; and he was
sorry to say, that if we joined in that infamous confederacy, and the
people agreed to it, England would deserve to be so treated. The
Empress then proceeded to state what she expected for the favour she
had conferred:
Her Imperial Majesty expects from the gratitude of her new subjects,
that they, being placed by her bounty on an equality with Russians,
shall, in return, transfer their love of their former country to the new

one, and live in future attached to so great and generous an Empress.
On an equality with Russians! This was a glorious equality,--liable to
be sent to Siberia with other Russian slaves. For this mighty favour
they were to transfer, as naturally might be expected, the whole love
they had for their native country, to Russia, their new and happy land;
for the same Minister of this equitable and generous Empress
proceeded to say:
I, therefore, inform every person, from the highest to the lowest, that
within one month, they must take the oath of allegiance before the
witnesses whom I shall appoint; and if any gentlemen, or other ranks
possessing real or immovable property, regardless of their own interest,
should refuse to take the oath prescribed, three months are allowed for
the sale of their immovables, and their free departure over the borders,
after the expiration of which term, all their remaining property shall be
confiscated to the Crown.
Really after such specimens, one would have supposed, but for the
well-known character of the council of these confederate Powers, they
were actuated under the influence of madness, or they would not thus
think of insulting the feelings of human nature. But this was not enough:
an oath, it seemed, must be taken, for:
The clergy, both high and low, as pastors of their flocks, are expected
to set the example in taking the oath; and in the daily service in their
churches, they must pray for Her Imperial Majesty, for her successor,
Great Duke Paul Petrovitz, and for all the Imperial Family, according
to the formula which shall be given them.
Here again there was evidence of a great and good mind, for this pious
Empress was determined that perjury should be very general in her
dominions, and that the example should be set by the clergy! Mr.
Sheridan then proceeded to take notice of the great and good King of
Prussia with respect