ent to Great Britain;
that it was a severe blow to the feelings of this country. One of the
modes of redress lay in a direct attack on France through a war on
the soil of Spain: the other was to make the possession of the Spanish
territory harmless in rival hands; to make it worse than harmless, to
make it injurious to be the possessor--the latter mode I have adopted.
Do you think that for the disparagement of England we have not been
compensated? Do you think that for the blockade of Cadiz England has
not received a full recompense? I looked at Spain by another name than
Spain: I looked on that power as Spain and the Indies; and so looking
at the Indies, I have there called a new world into existence, and
regulated the balance of power; thus redeeming the movement of France,
and leaving her own act on her unmitigated and unredressed, so that she
would now thankfully get rid of her responsibility, and shake off a
burden too heavy to be borne without complaint. France would now be
glad if England would assist her in dispensing with this burden; and the
only way of riveting France to the possession of Spain, would be to
make that possession a point of honour. I repeat it, the object of the
present expedition is not war, but to take the last chance of peace. If
England does not go promptly to the aid of Portugal, Portugal will be
trampled on, England will be disgraced, and then war will come; come,
too, in the train of degradation. If we wait until Spain has courage to
ripen her secret machinations into open hostility, we shall have war;
shall have the war of pacificators: and who can tell when that war shall
end?" Mr. Canning's eloquence prevailed. Mr. Hume's amendment received
the support of only three or four members; and the original question
was carried with only that number of dissentients. A similar address was
moved by Lord Bathurst in the upper house, and was carried with the
same unanimity. The measure was, indeed, a popular one, not only in the
walls of St. Stephen, but throughout the country. The prompt decision
of government quickly effected the purpose intended. It was on the 11th
that the king's message was delivered; and on the 14th 5,000 troops,
under the command of Sir William Clinton, began to march towards the
coast; and by the 25th the first detachment appeared in the Tagus. Their
appearance in Portugal was sufficient. The treachery and dissimulation
of Ferdinand gave way to his fears; the French governm