w before us is, whether the address which
the noble lord proposed, implies any commendation of past measures, not
whether those measures deserve to be commended; which is an inquiry not
at present to be pursued, because we have not now before us the means of
attaining satisfaction in it, and which ought, therefore, to be delayed
till it shall be your lordships' pleasure to appoint a day for examining
the state of the nation, and to demand those letters, instructions, and
memorials, which are necessary to an accurate and senatorial
disquisition.

In the mean time, since it is at least as expedient for me to vindicate,
as for others to accuse those of whose conduct neither they nor I have
yet any regular cognizance, and I may justly expect from the candour of
your lordships, that you will be no less willing to hear an apologist
than a censurer, I will venture to suspend the true question a few
moments, to justify that conduct which has been so wantonly and so
contemptuously derided.

That the preservation of the house of Austria, my lords, ought to engage
the closest attention of the British nation, is freely confessed. It is
evident that by no other means our commerce, our liberty, or our
religion can be secured, or the house of Bourbon restrained from
overwhelming the universe. It is allowed that the queen of Hungary has a
claim to our assistance by other ties than those of interest; that it
was promised upon the faith of treaties, and it is demanded by the
loudest calls of honour, justice and compassion. And did it not appear
too juvenile and romantick, I might add, that her personal excellencies
are such as might call armies to her assistance from the remotest
corners of the earth; that her constancy in the assertion of her rights
might animate every generous mind with equal firmness; and her
intrepidity in the midst of danger and distress, when every day brings
accounts of new encroachments, and every new encroachment discourages
those from whom she may claim assistance from declaring in her favour,
might inspire with ardour for her preservation all those in whom virtue
can excite reverence, or whom calamities unjustly inflicted can touch
with indignation.

Nor am I afraid to affirm, my lords, that the condition of this
illustrious princess raised all these emotions in the court of Britain,
and that the vigour of our proceedings will appear proportioned to our
ardour for her success. No sooner was the true state o