tion on the
22nd, on which day, therefore, the house was summoned. That day arrived,
Richmond moved for an address, praying that the king would order that
all papers received by the ministry between the 12th of September, 1769,
and the 12th of September, 1770, touching hostilities commenced, or
designed to be commenced, by the crown of Spain, or any of his officers,
should be laid before parliament. In urging this demand, the duke said,
that the affairs of the Falkland Islands was only one among many acts of
aggression, and he asserted that while we were in want of seamen, three
thousand, captured in trading ships by the Guarda-Costas, under pretence
of smuggling, were rotting in Spanish prisons, or pining away in
hopeless slavery in South America. The motion was opposed by Lords
Weymouth and Hillsborough, who contended that the production of the
papers called for, would embarrass a negociations now in good train that
the Spanish government was entitled to respect and delicate management;
and that the ministers were not wanting either in vigilance or vigour.
The Duke of Richmond was supported by the Earl of Chatham, who, in a
long and eloquent speech, showed the necessity of firmness on the part
of the British cabinet;--accused the Spaniards of want of faith, and of
being as mean and crafty as they are proud and insolent; and predicted
that if ministers patched up an accommodation for the present, they
would still have a Spanish war in six months. He concluded by charging
the ministers with having destroyed all content and unanimity at home
by a series of oppressive and unconstitutional measures; and with having
delivered up the nation, defenceless, to a foreign enemy. He added this
warning:--"Let me warn them of their danger. If they are forced into a
war, they stand it at the hazard of their heads; if, by an ignominious
compromise, they should stain the honour of the crown, or sacrifice the
rights of the people, let them look to the consequences, and consider
whether they will be able to walk the streets in safety."--The Duke of
Manchester, the Marquess of Rockingham, the Earl of Shelburne, and
Lord Lyttleton also supported the Duke of Richmond's motion, but it was
nevertheless negatived by a large majority. On the same day, also, a
similar motion was made and negatived in the house of commons; moreover,
a few days later the Earl of Chatham moved that Captain Hunt, who had
driven off a Spanish schooner from Port Egmont,