mittee) up to the Houfe of Lords, or by a refolution' afterwards. But what, he contended, was the strongest argument to induce the Houfe to act in the manner he had advised, was their not having before them in the parliamentary form any grounds whatever to lead to fufpend an act of expreffive readiness on their part to manifeft their defire to comply with the Methuen treaty. They had indeed heard of negotiations pending with Portugal, and they had heard of grievances complained of, but they knew not the grievances, nor the fituation and circumftances of the pending negotiations. They knew not that the complaints of grievance were even justly founded, and therefore as a Houfe of Parliament they had no grounds whatever to induce them to act otherwife than as if no negotiation whatever was pending, nor any complaints of grievances exifting. Mr. Fox concluded with moving, "That it be an inftruction to the faid Committee, that "they do, in the first place, proceed to confider of reducing "the duties upon wines directly imported from Portugal "into Great Britain, fo that fuch wines may pay no higher " duties than two thirds of the duties to be impofed upon "wines imported directly from France." Sir Grey Cooper remarked, that the bafis of the treaty in Sir Grey 1703 was the taking off a prohibition of the woollen goods Cooper, of Great Britain, which had fubfifted for nineteen years. The Queen fignified by her Minifter (Mr. Methuen), that it would be very agreeable to her if the woollen cloths and the rest of the woollen manufactures of Britain might be admitted into Portugal. Mr. Methuen had the addrefs and the good fortune to prevail on Portugal to comply with this requeft. The King of Portugal engaged to admit for ever hereafter into Portugal the woollen cloths and the rest of the woollen manufactures of Britain, as was accustomed until they were prohibited by the laws upon this exprefs condition, that at no time, whether there be peace or war between Britain and France, any thing more fhould be demanded for the wines of Portugal by the name of cuftom or duty when imported into Britain, than what fhould be demanded for the like quantity or measure of French, deducting or abating one third part of the custom or duty. was a boon given by England to Portugal, for the most valuable confideration of the admiffion of our woollens. There were two conditions; one on the part of Portugal, that fhe would for ever admit our woollen manufactures non aliter quam fieri folebat antequam interdicerentur. The condition to be performed on our part was very carefully and anxioufly worded. It had been already ftated; but at the close of the fecond article, which contains the whole of this condition, This there there were those important words in the original treaty Quod fi quando hæc vectigalium imminutio prout præfertur fac enda quovis modo attentabitur ipfique derogabitur jus fafque eri Sacræ majeftati Lufitania laneos pannos cæteraque Britannic canificia rurfus interdicere. This contract had redounded t the immense advantage of this kingdom for a longer cour of time, and by a more favourable balance, a greater accre tion of wealth than we owed to any other treaty. By th encouragement and extenfion of our ftaple manufacture, b the augmentation of the capital of the value of the lands, and the increase of the fhipping and feamen, which was para mount to all other confiderations. Amount of exports to Portugal. Value. In 1783, 559,000l. 84, 1471,000 85, 770,000 86, 599,000 Imports for the fame periods. In 1783, 322,000l. 84, 370,000 85, 428,000 86, 469,000 In the last year we imported 2,094,000 pounds of cotton wool, valued at 61,000l. This was a moft precious and effential article to the fineft cotton manufactures; And, in the year 1785, 1,629,000 pounds, valued at 47,000l., efpecially as Erance had lately laid five pence per pound on cotton exported from France, the prime coft of which was not more than eleven pence or one fhilling. 23,883 lb. Salt for fisheries, 17,000 Dying drugs, about 3,000 Skins, about 4,000, 43,000 { The account of the importation of fish from Newfound land into Portugal was not ftated with any accuracy or precifion in the ftate of the trade in/1772 and 1773. There was one article of 570,000 quintals of baccalas imported from Oporto in 1772, but not distinguished whether it was in British or American veffels. In 1773 there were only 31 quintals of baccalas imported into Oporto, and 80,000 quintals of fish into Lifbon from America. The remark at the close of the state of the trade in 1785 was very extraordinary, and was manifeftly calcu lated to depreciate the value of the Methuen treaty. It was a remark a remark more proper to be inferted in a pamphlet than in an account. The value of the fish from Newfoundland in that year amounted to 104,000l. in value, which, Sir Grey believed and hoped, was much under the average value of fifh imported from Newfoundland into Portugal. He obferved, that this great treaty was at that moment in much peril and Jeopardy. The condition on our part was on the point of being broken: it stood on the edge of a precipice; but the right honourable gentleman faid, that we need not be alarmed, as there was a power referved to fave the breach of the condition; but that it was not confiftent with good policy that it be now executed, because certain complaints of infractions of the condition on the part of Portugal were now in agitation, and that frefh remonftrances had been lately made to the Court of Lisbon on those, grievances. In a former debate he had conjured the right honourable gentleman to execute the power now, and to let the reduction of the Portugal wine go pari pafu with the boon given to French wine; and that commiffaries be appointed to confider, and, if poffible, to fettle the grievances and complaints of the merchants, within a time to be limited; and it seemed that this conduct was the wifeft, for this plain reason, that if the Court of Portugal conftrued this reduction of the duty on French wines to the level with the duty now demanded on thofe of Portugal to be a breach of the condition on our part, or fuch a derogation from the true fpirit of it as juftified her in prohibiting the woollens of Great Britain, there was an end of the Methuen treaty, and all the negotiation about redress of grievances was extinguished and fell to the ground, until we could again obtain the confent of Portugal to renew it, which might not, perhaps, be brought about on terms fo advantageous as we had at prefent. He doubted much, if this fhould unfortunately happen, whether we fhould find any thing in the French treaty to replace their lofs. This had happened before. In the first year of the reign of James II. the prohibition of French goods, enacted in 1678, expired; and in one of the first acts of the first feffion a duty of 81. per ton was laid on French wine, and 12. per ton on Spanish and all other wines. When the trade was opened with France, and that act paffed, the import of Portugal wines fell from 12,000 to 300, and the French wines increased from nothing to 13,000. This appeared by an account prefented to the House of Coinmons from the Inspector General's office in 1713. That unfortunate Prince was, during his whole reign, directed, as it were, by a spirit of dementation; and as a right honourable gentleman well obferyed the preceding day, he fubmitted to VOL. XXI. I i be Mr. Chan be the flave of France, that he might ruin the religion and conftitution of England, and Sir John Maynard would not have furvived the commerce, as well as the law of the land, i King William had not come to deliver both. Under all thef circumstances he could not avoid forming a moft anxious wifh that the Committee would not withhold their fupport from this neceffary propofition; and the rather, becaufe its manifeft tendency was to place the manufacturers, much interested in the fate of this treaty, upon a fecure footing, and yet leave the ftipulations in the French treaty totally unprejudiced. Mr. Chancellor Pitt obferved, that he believed that he cellor Pitt. fhould not experience any great difficulty in placing within contracted limits the fole reply which, in his humble opinion, it was neceffary for him to give to the right honourable gentleman, and the only reafons which he felt it incuinbent on him to affign for meeting the motion with a direct negative, fince the right honourable gentleman had chofen to repeat fo many arguments already fufficiently difcuffed and answered during the courfe of preceding debates. In the first place, he would lay out of the confideration all which the right honourable gentleman had faid relative to the pretended connection between what it might be proper to do with respect to Portugal, and the refolution which the Committee had already voted concerning the future rate of duties on the wines of France; the two confiderations, in fact and in truth, having nothing to do with each other, but being totally diftinct and feparate. To the next divifion of the right honourable gentleman's arguments, he was ready to fubfcribe; but, in doing that, he meant to be understood as referring to the conclufion only; as to the premises he laid in his claim to differ; for, although he had no manner of objection to admit that the trade of Great Britain with Portugal was valuable, and a matter deferving of very ferious attention, he was by no means willing to allow that the right honourable gentleman had been correct, and founded in his statement of the extent and amount of the value of that commerce. On the contrary, he very greatly queftioned the authenticity of the right honourable gentleman's ftatement, and fo far from believing it to be by any means a fair account of the matter, he had every reafon to imagine that it was grofsly exaggera ted. Here he would juft mention, that although he thought the Methuen treaty, a treaty the existence of which it was every way defirable to have continued; yet, if it should hap pen, (as he hoped and trufted it would not) that Portugal broke with us entirely as to that treaty, a great part of our trade with Portugal depended on agreements and treaties entered into anterior to the Methuen treaty. Among other articles articles of our trade with Portugal, the falt fish trade was of this description; and furely gentlemen would not contend, that if it fhould unfortunately be the ultimate fate that Great Britain and Portugal could not agree as to a continuance of the Methuen treaty, that therefore Portugal was abfolved from a due performance of acts of ftipulation concluded many years antecedent to the Methuen treaty. He could not well account for the right honourable gentleman's having, in fo extraordinary a way, and under fuch peculiar circumstances as the country ftood in with Portugal at this time, touched upon one part of the fubject in the manner that he had done. That he did it with a view to encourage Portugal to imagine there was any defcription of persons in this country who were of opinion that fhe would be juftified in a grofs violation of her natural faith, he did not believe, nor would he fuggeft an imputation of so unbecoming a nature; but whether he had meant to delude the people of England inco an idea that Great Britain was more obliged to Portugal than Portugal was obliged to Great Britain, (the very reverfe of which, in the extremest degree, was notorioufly the fact) or whether he had used it merely as a fophiftry for the purpose of the moment, he could not decide, but a more palpable miftatement had scarcely ever been given. The Chancellor of the Exchequer next remarked, that he was led at laft to the only part of the right honourable gentleman's fpeech which he thought in any degree called for an anfwer; and, that was the right honourable gentleman's bold declaration, that the House had no grounds before them upon which they could rest any thing like a knowledge that a negotiation was pending with the Court of Portugal upon a complaint of grievances which that country had a right to expect to fee redreffed. Was it poffible that fuch an argument could be feriously maintained after he had more than once, and efpecially the preceding evening, stated to the House in exprefs terms, that fuch a negotiation was going on, and that the grievances, which furely no man would fay, had never been heard of before, were of great weight and feriousness, and fuch as no government could fuffer to remain unnoticed, 'while it was conscious that the Methuen treaty was punctually complied with on. our part. Far was he from fufpecting that the right honourable gentleman meant any thing perfonal to him, or could defign in that fenfe to infinuate fo foul a fufpicion; but, parliamentarily fpeaking, furely he had a right to claim, even from that right honourable gentleman, fo much confidence and credit on behalf of the executive government, when he afferted, in his place, that a negotiation was going on with the Court of Lisbon, from a complaint of a non-compliance I i 2 with |