houfe oblerved, that if even a fubordinate officer, intrufted with the direction of a particular enterprise, entered, as fir Sidney Smith had done, into a convention, which, ftrictly fpeaking, he had no powers to conclude, many examples could be found, of cafes in which the commander-in chief thought himself bound to ratify what the fubordinate officer had done, and in which government had ratified the confent of the commanding officer. Was not this the cafe at Cape Nicola Mole, when general Whitlock, though a fubordinate officer, with out any fpecific. powers, and without the confent of the commanderin chief, agreed to a convention which general Williamfon, the commander-in-chief, afterwards thought himfelf bound to ratify, and which was afterwards ratified by government? An objection had been made to the form in which the motion was worded. This, indeed, Mr. Hobhoufe did not think quite fo accurate, and recommended it to his honourable friend to make fome alteration in it.

Mr. Yorke, after obferving that the motion was not of a parliamentary form, becaufe parliament could have no power'over a letter which must be in the poffeffion of general 'Kleber, expreffed his aftonishment that any one could have the confidence to fay, in that houfe, that the British fleet was in the leaf degree injured by that which took place, on our behalf, in Egypt; and that the more efpecially after, we had been in poffeflion of the intercepted French correspondence on that fub

Mr. Percival faid, that the Englih, after the orders from government had been communicated to

them by lord Keith, had done no. thing to break the treaty. The English committed no act of hoftis lity. But the French, on receiving the communication from lord Keith, had chofen to break it themselves. If there was any breach of faith, it was on the fide of the French. When government heard that the French had trafted and acted on the belief that this country would consent to the convention, it fent out orders not to ratify, but to refpect its With regard to the motion before the houfe, he could not recollect that he had ever heard one fupported by lefs argument. He readily allowed, that the publication of a letter was not a fufficient means of information for the purpose of found ing on it any specific motion. But, if this was the intention, the fup porters of the motion ought to have argued from the contents of the letter, that it would afford ground on which to rest a motion.

*

Mr. Jones, as a proof that this country was a party in the conven tion of El-Arifh, ftated, that it was an article in this, that paffports fhould be given to the French by the Porte, and by its allies, Ruffia and England. As to the form of the motion, faid Mr. Jones, I am prepared... On fuch occafions as thefe, I generally go doubly armed, and now move, "That an humble addrefs be prefented to his majesty, that he will be graciously pleafed to give directions, that copies of all letters from the commander-in-chief of the fleet in the Mediterranean to general Kleber be laid on the table of this houfe." This motion wast rejected by 80 noes against 12 ayes.

The repeated mifcarriage of Mr Jones's motions, in the house of commons,

commons, did not difcourage lord Holland from moving, on the 23d of December, 1800, in the houfe of lords, the production of certain papers relative to the evacuation of Egypt. His lordship adverted to the circumftances of the treaty of El-Arish, and concluded, from the information fuffered to transpire, that Kleber had neceffarily broken the convention for his own fecurity; which unhappy affair had had a material effect on the late negotiations. He cenfured the conduct of minifters in the whole tranfaction, as guided by a narrow fyftem of policy, which, in order to gralp at little advantages, fuffers occafions of important aggrandifement to go by. Being therefore perfuaded that the prefent tenure of Egypt by the French was owing to the mifconduct of his majesty's minifters, and was a principal obftacle to our enjoyment of the bleffings of peace, he thought it a duty incumbent on him to call for fuch papers as would tend to throw light on the subject. He therefore moved,

"That an humble addrefs be prefented to his majesty, entreating that his majefty would be graciously pleated to order that there be laid before the house, a copy of the powers granted to fir Sidney Smith, en his miffion to the fublime Porte: "Copies of all letters written by the English ambaffador at Conftantinople to fir Sidney Smith, during his ftay at Acre and El-Arith:

"Copies of the inftructions fent but by his majesty's minifters to the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean fleet:

"And copies of all letters written by the commander-in-chief to' any of the French generals commanding in Egypt.” -

VOL. XLIII.

Lord Grenville, on the queftion being put, faid, that he feared no contradiction in afferting, that the continuance of the French army in Egypt 'was not occafioned by the breach of the convention of ElArish; that they had practifed a deception on the Ottoman government, and amused them with hopes of a negotiation which they broke. He was unwilling to fay much of the conduct of a perfon who was now no more: but he was compelled to declare, that nothing could have been more unjustifiable than the perfidious conduct of general Kleber, in the attack he afterwards made on the army of the grand vizier by surprise. That ge neral had been guilty of the violation of the treaty of El-Arifh, by declaring afterwards that he would evacuate it, with feveral variations which circumftances rendered neceffary: whilft his aid-de-camp had affured the Kaimakan, that general Kleber would execute the engagements as foon as tranfports arrived. He really believed that, among all the inftances which Great Britain had given during this war of good faith, if he was called on to felect one out of the rest, he should be inclined to pitch upon this very refolution of the British government to abide by the convention entered into between the Turks (not the British government) and the French at El-Arith.

Lord Hobart entreated the house to confider, what was the state of affairs on the continent of Europe at that time, and what might probably have been the confequence, if 20,000 feasoned troops, flufhed. with fuccefs, had been permitted to come to Egypt, and join the French army on the continent? Had [D]

the

the refult of such an addition to the French force been fimilar to what was unfortunately the refult of the late campaign in Italy, he would alk what blame would not, in that, cafe, have been imputed to the conduct of minifters, in permitting the French army to evacuate Egypt, and join their forces in Europe? The eagerness of lord Holland to fpeak further on this fubject being. reftrained by the chancellor, the houfe divided: when the motion was negatived by 12 votes against

two.

Of a debate involving fo deeply the character of the British government and nation, we have given a fuller account than might have been warranted, had not their good faith been loudly arraigned both abroad and at home. It is not our manner to interrupt our brief narrative, whether of facts or realonings, by reflections, yet, on the prefent occafion, we cannot help remarking, that the good policy of our government, in the whole of their conduct refpecting the convention of ElArith, was as little cenfurable on the ground of policy as on that of good faith. The conduct of all minifters ought to be faly watched; and, in this country, it ftil ha, pily is fo. Some charges, however, would be fpared, if it were duly contidered that minifiers poffef, on great political queftions, the beft means of information, and the beft opportunities of contemplating events and councils in all their bearings. As, on the one hand, the public profperity is fometimes afcribed to government, when it is purely the work of fortune; fo they may be fometimes right when they are thought wrong by thofe whole poons do not command a view of

the whole of the paffing fcenes to be taken into confideration.

On the fubject of that part of his majefty's fpeech which related to the late negotiations for peace, a motion was made in the houfe of commons, on the 1st of December, by

Mr. Sheridan, who, inftead of pointing out with minutenefs, as he had once intended, where minilters had been guilty of infincerity, where of prevarication, where of hypocrify, where of weaknefs, and endeavoured to prove from the past conduct of our allies, and their prefent views, that we ought to difentangle ourselves from all continental connexions as foon as poflible, and, by entering into a separate negotia tion, conclude a feparate peace. In doing this, he laid down two-propofitions, and established upon thele two feparate conclufions. The fift propofition was, that, from the commencement of the confederacy, there had exifted in the different states which compofed it, a mercenary fpirit, a fole view to private aggrandifement, the groficft and moft fhameful infincerity. The conlufion from hence was, that we should withdraw from it, and avoid the obftacles which it threw in the way of peace. The fecond propofition was, that there appeared the ftrongeft ground to fufpect, that in all the negotiations for peace which minif ters had carried on, although they might not have thwarted their ple nipotentiaries, although there might have been conditions to which they would have acceded, till that they had never fincerely withed for fuccefs, and never fincerely lamented the want of it. The inference from this was plain. Since the fame minifters remained in office, the interference