could afford a landing-place for the purpose of an invasion. The consideration was, where would' an invasion prove most detrimental; and upon that spot to erect such fortifications, that not only an invasion by sea, should not become practicable, but that, if an enemy should have been able to land in another place, he might not also be able successfully to attack them there. He hoped to hear no more of Whitesand bay; for it was not the defence of that bay, it was the defence of the dock-yards of Plymouth, which was intended; it was not a landing there alone which was to be prevented; it was a landing on any part of the coast which was to be defeated, at least as far as it had an attack on Plymouth for its object; and if Whitesand bay were surrounded by a wall of adamant, still Plymouth could not continue safe unless those grounds were fortified. He hoped, and believed, that he had completely done way the whole force of the dissents of the several officers to whom he had alluded: and now he should attempt to answer objections of another

nature.

It had been thrown out, and much stress seemed to be laid upon the position, that the whole system of fortification was new and unprecedented in this country: but this idea he was prepared to combat in the most direct and positive manner. The system of fortification did always make a part of the general defence of England, and he would prove it by the most incontestible records of history. Even during the reign of King Henry the Eighth, there was a provision, made by statute, for fortifying certain parts of the coasts. The statute he would not take upon himself to read, because the terms in which it was couched were become obsolete, and almost unintelligible. The same policy was observed by Queen Elizabeth, and formed a considerable part of the defence provided by that great and glorious princess, against the unexpected attack of the armada. In the less prosperous reigns of the Stuart princes, the same system was occasionally continued, and again adopted by our illustrious deliverer, William the Third. During the reign of Queen Anne, at the time when the victories of the British arms were forming an era in

the history of Europe, at which England looked back with pride, and other nations with amazement, did our ancestors think it incompatible with their fame, with their liberty or their constitution, to fortify the most vulnerable parts of their coasts, as it was now proposed to do?- On the contrary there was a resolution of the Commons, not even at the desire of the crown, laying down the necessity of fortifying the dock-yards against any possible invasion, and those resolutions were founded upon estimates of plans which had been made under the reign of King William. The estimates of those fortifications amounted to a sum, which, considering the difference between those days and the expensive times in which it was our misfortune to live, gave no great room for a charge of prodigality against those who had digested the present plan. The money then voted was 300,000l. which, when compared with the value of money at this day, would not appear as a very trifling sum. To come down to a later period, a period to which it might be supposed he was somewhat partial-the

last war the last war! would to Heaven we could call it the last war! not indeed the last war, but the last on which Britons could reflect without either a sigh or a blush-the war of contrast with the last! the war in which the name of Britain was exalted above the highest and the proudest of nations, by successes as stupendous, and conquests as glorious, as our late miscarriages and defeats had been calamitous and disgraceful!- What was the policy of the administration of that day? That it was exactly similar with what was now recommended he would prove by one or two short extracts from the statute book. The first was from an act of 22d Geo. II. for providing fortifications for the dock-yards and the second was for a fortification for some more insignificant place (Milford, as well as he could remember) in which the very grounds of the policy now inculcated were recognized; that, by procuring adequate means for domestic defence, the nation would become more at liberty to send its fleets abroad, either for the purpose of defending her foreign settlements, or carrying the operations of offensive hostility into the center of the enemy's possessions.

Thus it might be seen, that in the very best days of this country the system of fortification was uniformly practised and encouraged; but even in a much later period, and during the administration of the right honourable gentleman opposite to him, the very identical plan of fortification then under discussion had been considered, and an estimate for carrying it into execution was presented to the House. He supposed that the right honourable gentleman who contended for the propriety of ministers being always ready to make up their minds on every subject which related to the force of the country, and who had himself, it appeared, made up his mind on the subject, was now ready to give his reasons for that change of opinion, which, it was to be feared, he intended on the present occasion to avow. For his own part, notwithstanding the great abilities and uncommon versatility of talents which the right honourable gentleman was well known to possess, he apprehended that he would not be able to reconcile, to any principles of consistency, his practice of making up his mind when in administration, and unmaking it with so much facility when out of office. He should, however, expect to hear that particular circumstance fully explained, as far as so extraordinary a change of opinion in such a peculiar variety of circumstances could admit of explanation.

As to the necessity suggested as likely to ensue from this measure of augmenting the standing army, nothing could prove more void of foundation. It had been unanimously reported by the board of officers, that the plan of fortification proposed was the best calculated for the defence of the dock-yards of any other which could be devised, and that it was such as was capable of defence by the smallest number of troops. Would any person, then, contend that a smaller number of troops, independent of fortifications, were able to defend a place better than a large body, assisted with the best possible fortifications? Such an idea was too absurd to be argued against; and yet, in fact, it was the only idea on which that topic of opposition could possibly be

*Mr. Fox.

maintained. Should we, in case of an invasion, trust solely to our standing army, then there would be a necessity of augmenting, to a most enormous degree, that army on which the whole safety of the kingdom was to rest. Was this the way to vindi-. cate and secure our liberties? If we did not keep up such an army, then we should be reduced to the necessity of recurring to foreign assistance: perhaps to the protection of mercenaries, bribed by our money, and who, when we had no longer occasion for their service, would prove as ready to turn their arms against ourselves. Was it less desirable for us to be defended by the walls of Portsmouth and Plymouth, garrisoned by our own militia, than to purchase the protection of Hessian hirelings? The plan was objected to upon the ground of the expense which would attend it, and of the probability that we could not expect to be free from a war until it should be completed, and that we should derive no advantage from them at the time of the greatest necessity. As to the latter of these objections, he requested the House to recollect the words of the report upon the table, from which they would learn, that the plan of fortification proposed to be adopted, was one calculated, even in an unfinished and imperfect state, to afford great means of defence; and that every part of them, though wanting all other assistance, and standing singly by itself, would prove highly useful and of course desirable. Thus, every part would be answerable to the great object: and so far from rendering it necessary for the House to hold itself committed to a constant and periodical expense until the whole was completed, the fact would be, that every year the necessity of adding to the fortifications must diminish, because every year the dock-yards would receive additional strength.

With respect to the expense attending the building of the works, he flattered himself, that his sentiments and ideas on the subject of the finances of this country, was not a backward feature in his political character-He hoped that he had not shewn himself remiss in any endeavours which could possibly tend to raise the revenue from that deplorable state to which it was re

duced by the melancholy process of the late war. It was too well known how much his feelings were engaged, not only by the duty of his station, and by his attachment to his country, but by considerations of his own personal reputation, which was deeply committed in the question, to exert every nerve, to arm all his vigilance, and to concentre all his efforts towards that great object, by which alone we should have a prospect, by relieving their burthens, of transmitting to our posterity that ease and comfort which ourselves felt the want of an efficient sinking fund of the national debt; to accomplish which was the first wish of his heart, and this, as well by every means of prudent, well regulated economy, as by a rigid collection of the revenue. But was he to be seduced by the plausible and popular name of economy-he would not call it only plausible and popular, he would rather say, the sacred name of economy-to forego the reality, and for the sake of adding a few hundred thousands more to the sinking fund, perhaps render for ever abortive the sinking fund itself? Every saving which could, consistently with the national safety, be made, he would pledge himself to make; but he would never consent to starve the public service, and to withhold those supplies without which the nation must be endangered.

The relieving by every such means as his duty would suffer him to adopt, the burthens of the people, and removing that load of debt by which she was oppressed, was the grand and ultimate end of his desire; it was the pedestal to which he would wish to raise a column which should support whatever pretensions he might have to reputation and popularity; but let it be well considered, how far the objects of necessary defence, and of public economy, could be reconciled, and let the bounds that divide them not be transgressed. Let it be well weighed, what a certain security for a lasting peace there was in a defencible and powerful situation, and how likely weakness and improvidence were to be the forerunners of war. But should a war happen, where was economy? What was become of the sinking fund? The very expenses of one year's loan would amount to more than the