" and emoluments of different public offices, and whether any and "what farther measures can be adopted for reducing any part of "the said expenditure, or for diminishing the total amount of "such salaries and emoluments, without detriment to the public "services."

Mr. Sheridan proposed that Mr. Fox should be added to the Committee. The house divided,

EMIGRANTS.

April 24, 1798.

THE house having resolved into a Committee on the Alien Bill,

Mr. Hobart in the Chair,

MR. WINDHAM (Secretary at War) remarked on the vulgar prejudices against which Gentlemen ought to guard on a subject of this nature. Thus there was a sort of prevalent error concerning every foreigner, that he must be a Frenchman, and concerning every Frenchman, that he must be an Emigrant; thus it had been stated to that effect in the house concerning a person apprehended, who, it appeared, was neither a Frenchman nor an Emigrant, and, as it turned out, had not been guilty of any crime. This was a reason why the Committee should be cautious how they confounded the innocent with the guilty. There were other mistaken opinions entertained, and, he feared, gaining ground in this country; thus some were apt to see Emigrants only in the light of persons coming into this country in distress; and simply in this view,

it was surely no light matter to expel persons merely because they were distressed, nor from mere surmises or fancied apprehensions of danger. The body of French Emigrants ought, in his opinion, to be considered as consisting of men, many of whom had made great sacrifices for their loyalty and attachment to their antient government; many of them the respectable representatives of all that remained of the clergy, nobility, magistracy, and proprietary of the land. They had a claim to be considered, not merely as suffering individuals, but also in their collective and representative capacity, which made them of still greater consequence. He was afraid there were many in this country, who, in the days of the prosperity of such persons, would have been ambitious to have been cordially received by them, but who now forgot all this, and viewed these same individuals merely as persons sunk into poverty. He was happy, however, to say, that this treatment and cold behaviour was not universal. To the honour of the sex he must remark, that ladies of the first rank, character, and respectability in this country, had shewn their sympathy, and liberality towards those of their own sex, who in France had seen better days. He thought the country bound not upon light grounds to withhold from them that asylum and assistance they had hitherto received from this country; for what would this be doing but to put them in a worse situation than if they had never been taken under our protection? Those who wished the expulsion of the Emigrants, did so from an appre

hension of danger to this country. For his part, he could not enter into any such feelings of apprehension; for of the Emigrants, about one half were priests, the remaining number, after deducting women and children, was inconsiderable. A common prejudice was entertained against them, because they preferred France to this country, and their antient constitution to our own; but this, in his opinion, was no objection to them. It would, indeed, be extraordinary if the case were otherwise, as well as unreasonable to require of them to sacrifice all their antient opinions and prejudices, or to expect that a Frenchman, for the allowance of a shilling a day, would sacrifice what he considered his birth-right, for a mess of pottage. But though it was not to be expected of them that they should prefer this country to their own, yet no inference could be deduced from this why they should forfeit the confidence, liberality, and humanity of the Nation and Parliament? We certainly had a right to expect that they would not betray or sell the country which sheltered them; that they would not take part with those who at present were our enemies, supposing that they did not co-operate with us.

He would ask, what instances could be produced, during the long period of the present war, of these Emigrants proving untrue, or betraying whatever trust had been reposed in them? They had been trusted upon some occasions, necessarily, and pretty highly. They composed a part of the army of the Duke of York upon the continent. Had they proved betrayers of their trust then, or been deficient in their duty?

Were the corps of Rohan, of La Chatre, of Montalembert, &c. false to their employers? In the army of the Prince of Condé, whole ranks were to be found composed of persons who had been loaded with honours for services done to their own or other countries; the army of the Austrians had been saved by the exertions of this corps, who had many of them gallantly fallen. whilst defending their allies... After alluding to the unfortunate affair of Quiberon, which he considered to have suffered by surprize rather than by treachery, he proceeded to notice a question that was sometimes asked, as alluding to the Emigrants, namely, were there not spies in this country? He would answer by saying, there were just as many as the Directory of France chose to employ. Nor, if instances of this sort should be found amongst the Emigrants, would it be any matter of surprize. There were also traitors. in this country; but would it be justifiable on this account to proscribe a whole body of men who had been taken under the protection of this country, and who had not abused the confidence reposed in them? But it might be questioned, whether, in case of danger from a successful landing of the enemy, they might not wish to save their own lives by joining the enemy? He would only say, this was a trial they had not been called to; but in similar instances in other countries, they had shewn their regard to their honour to be equal, if not superior to that of their lives. Many of them had preferred the calls of duty and of honour to every other consideration.

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