ts strength and
situation, the erection of which had been one great motive to the war
between the two nations; but he will be still more surprised to hear
it declared from the throne, that the operations, both by sea and in
America, had derived the most evident advantage from the war in Germany.
An assertion the more extraordinary, as the British ministry, in their
answer to the Parallel, which we have already mentioned, had expressly
affirmed, that "none but such as are unacquainted with the maritime
force of England can believe, that without a diversion on the continent,
to employ part of the enemy's force, she is not in a condition to hope
for success and maintain her superiority at sea. That they must be very
ignorant indeed, who imagine that the forces of England are not able to
resist those of France unless the latter be hindered from turning all
her efforts to the sea." It is very remarkable that the British ministry
should declare that the war in Germany was favourable to the English
operations by sea and in America, and almost in the same breath accuse
the French king of having fomented that war. Let us suppose that France
had no war to maintain in Europe; and ask in what manner she, in that
case, would have opposed the progress of the British arms by sea and in
America? Her navy was reduced to such a condition that it durst not quit
her harbours; her merchant ships were all taken, her mariners confined
in England, and the sea was covered with British cruisers: in these
circumstances, what expedients could she have contrived for sending
supplies and reinforcements to America, or for opposing the naval
armaments of Great Britain in any other part of the world?--None.
Without ships and mariners, her troops, ammunition, and stores were,
in this respect, as useless as money to a man shipwrecked on a desolate
island. But granting that the war in Germany had, in some measure,
diverted the attention of the French ministry from the prosecution of
their operations in America, (and this is granting more than ought to
be allowed,) the question is not, Whether the hostilities upon the
continent of Europe prevented France from sending a greater number of
troops to Canada; but whether the war in Germany was either necessary or
expedient for distressing the French more effectually in other parts of
the world? Surely every intelligent man of candour must answer in the
negative. The expense incurred by England for subsidies and a