this impaired state of English liber. ty, and that which was so nobly demanded and so honourably conceded, at the auspicious æra of our happy and glorious revolution. It is in vain that, by the rapidity with which this bill has proceeded, the petitions, complaints, remonstrances, and other addresses of an irritated people, have been evaded. It is in vain to hope, that the length of time for which it is to endure will lay the public anxiety to sleep. The people cannot cease to regard this invasion of their rights with grief and dismay. They feel with us, that even indifference would extinguish this fundamental franchise, this safeguard of all our liberties, for ever. BEDFORD, ALBEMARLE, DERBY.

LAUDERDALE,

Speech of His Excellency the Viceroy of Corsica, delivered to the Chamberof Parliament at the opening of the Session, the 9th Day of Feb. 1795.

Gentlemen,

IT is with unfeigned pleasure that I meet you this day in parlia. ment, both because your constitution, on which the future happiness of Corsica depends, is hereby consummated, and because the full energy of your wisdom and authority is required at a period render. ed doubly interesting by the esta blishment of a new government, and by the continuance of the war. You are charged not only with important, but arduous duties, since you must on the one hand secure your freedom as an independent nation, by a vigorous and coura geous exertion in the war, and on the other, you must make provi. sion for internal happiness and

liberty, by deliberations which are better suited to times of tranquillity" and peace.

For the discharge of this great trust, I rely with perfect confidence, on the wisdom and public spirit of parliament, supported by the zealous and hearty union of all good Corsi cans, whether in public or private stations; for you will, no doubt, participate with me in the pleasing reflection, that the present period. affords the happy opportunity of composing past animosities, and ob.. literating divisions no longer supported by any subsisting motive; and which, being always at variance with the general good, are. peculiarly prejudicial to it in moments like the present.

His majesty, on his part, ever just and ever firm to his engage. ments, has already taken those steps which the constitution pointed out, for completing the new system of your government. He has been pleased to ratify in person the constitutional act which he had previ ously authorized me to accept in

his name.

I have ordered the gracious an.. swer made by his majesty to the address of the late general council, presented to him by deputies from that assembly, to be laid before you. I have also ordered to be laid before you a copy of the commission by which his majesty has been pleased to confer on me the exalted honour of representing him in this kingdom under the title of viceroy, agreeable to the provisions of the constitutional act. By the choice of a person whose best qualification for that distinguished station is a warm and steady affection for Corsica, you will perceive that the same sentiment prevailed on that occasion on his majesty's mind.

I am enabled with equal satisfaction to acquaint you, that his majesty is not less attentive to your protection against the hostile designs of the enemy and you may depend on his powerful and vigorous support during the war. He confides at the same time in the zeal and courage of his Corsican subjects for repelling the enemy, and defending, in the independence of their country, and the security of their lives, fortunes, and honour, all that can be dear to men. In these views a considerable body of Corsican infantry has been raised, and an immediate augmentation to that national corps is intended.

- Measures have been taken for enabling his majesty to assemble the militia, and employ them against the common enemy in case of need. It will be for the parliament, in its wisdom to frame adequate regulations for the perfection of such a system as may give to Corsica, in moments of danger, the full benefit of the courage and patriotism of all her subjects: for it must not be forgotten, that the independence and liberty of your country must not depend on the protection of regular troops alone, however formi. dable the force employed may be ; but, under the providence of GoD, must still rest principally on the hearts and arms of a people who love their country and their free. dom.

Many important objects will require your immediate attention. The most urgent of these, is to provide sufficient funds for the public service.

In the present circumstances of Corsica, his majesty is pleased to take upon himself the whole charges of the military establishment; you

have also the benefit of a great naval force, without any expence ; you have no public debt, and con. sequently no interest to pay on that account.

Reflecting on these peculiar advantages, enjoyed, perhaps, exclusively by this nation, I am persuaded that you will cheerfully furnish the remaining and unavoidable expences of the public service; and it is with much comfort that I consider the impossibility of an ample and adequate provision for the civil charges of government being burthensome to the people of Corsica, even in the present state of her resources.

A settlement of your religious establishment has been reserved for the chamber of parliament, in concert with his holiness the pope.

To this important point you will naturally direct your early and serious attention; and I have no doubt, that the wisdom and piety which will preside in your councils, will lead you to the means of reconciling the civil interests and temporal prosperity of your constituents, with the holy duties of religion, the reverence due to its ministers, and the sacred rights of property.

The definition and limits of the several powers and jurisdictions to be exercised by the different tribunals in the administration of justice, as well as a declaration of the law itself, are other points of seri. ous and urgent importance. A faithful and judicious administration of the national property, par. ticularly of the woods and forests, the improvement of agriculture, manufactures and commerce, the encouragement of industry in all its branches, the government and discipline of the military, the encouragement

conragement and navigation, and regulations which may bring forth the naval resources of the island, whether in mariners or stores, in its own defence, and in the general service of the empire; the repair of highways, and improvement of internal communication; institutions for public instruction; establishments of health, both for the security of the inhabitants, and the convenience of their commerce; all these are objects worthy of your early deliberations, and for which your wisdom and diligence will not fail to provide.

I have the greatest satisfaction in announcing to you the conclusion of a treaty for the marriage of his royal highness the prince of Wales with the princess Caroline, daughter of the duke of Brunswick. I am persuaded that your affection for the person and family of his majesty will make you participate in the general joy diffused through every part of his dominions, by an event so interesting to the happiness of his majesty and that illustrious prince.

Gentlemen,

Impressed with the momentous nature of the present period, and of the duties which it imposes on us, I am nevertheless confident in your patriotism, talents, and appli. cation; and I pray God so to bless and enlighten our councils, and so to endue us with wisdom and vir tue, as to render this first parlia. ment of Corsica an example to all succeeding ones, as well as to your constituents of the present day, of disinterested, zealous, and, above all, united exertion for the public good.

It is by these means, and by the blessing of God, that I trust your

country will triumph over its foreign and domestic enemies, and attain under the mild and equitable government of his majesty, the summit of national prosperity and happiness.

Earl Fitzwilliam's Speech to both

Houses of the Irish Parliament, on opening the Session 22d Jan. 1795

My lords and gentlemen, IN obedience to his majesty's command, I resort to your councils, at a period which, in a peculiar manner, calls for the wisdom and energy of parliament.

His majesty's determination is fixed; as long as he is supported by his faithful subjects, he never will be wanting to them or to him. self; his majesty has no interest but that of his people; no views but for their happiness; no object but their general safetv

The uniform tenor of your con duct has demonstrated, that you will not only be desirous, but zea. lous, to second and emulate the magnanimity of a sovereign, form ed to lead a nation that has ever been as firm to assert its liberties, as affectionately devoted to a government which maintains its own authority, for the sole purpose of supporting those liberties. As you are thus cordially attached to that sovereign, and to the constitution which it is his glory to protect, I have to announce to you, with true satisfaction, that you will hear with equal pleasure, the intended marriage of his royal highness the prince of Wales with the princess Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, daughter of his most illustrious highness the duke of Brunswick and Lunen. burgh; a princess of that illus.

trious house, to whose mild and constitutional sway these kingdoms are highly indebted for the bless. ings they enjoy; this marriage promises the perpetuation of the same blessings under the same house.

I have it also in command to in. form you, that his majesty has concluded a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, with the United States of America, in which it has been his majesty's object to remove, as far as possible, all grounds of jealousy and misunderstanding, and to improve an intercourse beneficial to both states. As soon as the ratification of this treaty shall have been exchanged, and I shall have received a copy of it, I will direct it to be laid before you, in order that you may consider if it will be necessary to make any provisions for carrying into effect a treaty, in which the commerce of this kingdom is so materially and extensively interested.

Gentlemen of the house of com

mons,

I have directed the estimates for the public service, and the state of the public accounts, to be laid before you.

His majesty has that assured confidence, grounded on a long and uniform experience of your loyalty, and your zeal for his service, and the good of your country, that I think it unnecessary to press you, in any particular manner, to make a provision adequate to the present awful situation of affairs.

It is with pleasure I acquaint you, that the provision will, in some degree, be facilitated by the circumstance, that, during the existence of such a war as the present, the public revenue, together with the commerce of the king

dom, has kept up, and has even been augmented: advantages which are due to the care and vigilance of our sovereign, in the general pro. tection provided by him for all his subjects.

My lords and gentlemen,

I earnestly recommend to you a continuance of the laudable pains you have constantly taken to cul. tivate all your domestic advantages in commerce, in manufacture, and in such public works, as have appeared directed to promote those important objects. These are the true foundations of all public re venue and public strength. Your endeavours have had their fruit. The great staple manufacture of this kingdom has increased beyond the most sanguine expectation—an advantage principally owing to the constant superintendance and wise provisions of the parliament of Ireland; and next to those, to the assured, liberal, and most merited encouragement, which it receives in the rich and extensive market of Great Britain—a circumstance tending to cement the union, and to perfect the harmony, which happily subsists, and I trust will subsist for ever, between the two kingdom.

Attached as you are to the ge neral cause of religion, learning, and civilization, I have to recom. mend to your consideration the state of education in this kingdom, which in some parts will admit of improvement, in others may require some new arrangement. Considerable advantages have been already derived under the wise regulations of parliament, from the protestant charter-schools, and these will, as usual, claim your attention: but as these advantages have

been

been but partial, and as circumstances have made other considera. tions, connected with this important subject, highly necessary, it is hoped that your wisdom will order every thing relating to it, in the manner most beneficial, and the best adapted to the occasions of the several descriptions of men, which compose his majesty's faithful subjects of Ireland.

We are engaged in an arduous contest. The time calls not only for great fortitude, and an unusual share of public spirit, but for much constancy and perseverance. You are engaged with a power which, under the ancient forms of its internal arrangenient, was always highly formidable to the neighbouring nations. Lately this power has assumed a new shape; but with the same ambition, with much more extensive and systematic designs, far more effective, and without comparison, more dreadful in the certain consequences of its eventual success, it threatens nothing less than the entire sub. version of the liberty and independence of every state in Europe. An enemy to them all, it is actu. ated with a peculiar animosity against these kingdoms, not only as the natural protection of the balance of power in Europe, but also, because, by the profession of a legal, humane, and rational freedom, we seem to reproach that false and spurious liberty, which, in reality, is an ignominious servitude, tending to extinguish all good arts, to generate nothing but impiety, crime, disorder, and ferocious manners, and to end in wretchedness, and general desolation.

To guard his people from the enterprises of this dangerous and malignant power, and for the protection of all civilized society against the inroad of anarchy, his majesty has availed himself of every rational aid foreign and do. mestic: he has called upon the skill, courage, and experience of all his subjects, wheresoever dispersed, and you must be duly sen. sible in such a crisis as the present, which rarely occurs in the course of human affairs, of the ad. vantage of his majesty's thus endeavouring to profit of the united strength and zeal of every description of his subjects.

I have to assure you of his majesty's most cheerful concurrence in every measure, which your wisdom and comprehensive patriotism shall point out for this salutary pur pose.

On my part, you shall find me, from principle and from inclina. tion, thoroughly disposed to concur with his majesty's paternal wishes, and with the wise measures of his parliament. On a cordial affection to the whole of Ireland, and on a conduct suitable to that sentiment, I wish to found my own personal estimation, and my repu tation in the execution of the great trust committed, by the most beneficent of sovereigns, to my care.