Excerpt from Hints to Both Parties, or Observations on the Proceedings in Parliament Upon the Petitions Against the Orders in Council, and on the Conduct of His Majesty's Ministers in Granting Licenses to Import the Staple Commodities of the Enemy

Bluch has been said by the Opposition, of the inbu manity of this system that it is making war upon unof fending individuals. Let them say what this system is on which Buonaparte has so long been acting, of exclu ding the manufactures and produce of Great Britain, from every part of the world under his control, and confiscating them wherever found, but making war upon unoffending individuals? Yet no invectives against his in humanity have escaped their lips: though all the vials of their wrath were poured out upon the devoted heads of his Majesty's Ministers, the moment they adopted the same principle. It might have been thought, that they would have felt as warmly for the sufferings of their fel low-subjects, inflicted by the hand of the enemy, as they now feel for the sufferings of their enemies, retaliated upon them for the relief of their fellow-subjects. The new system of modified hostility recommended by that party, may justly be controverted by the sentiment of Dr. Johnson, that the prince who is tender to his ene mies, is cruel to his own subjects for the enemy will never be disposed to terminate a contest, while he can carry it on without being deprived of any of his accustom ed advantages and enjoyments and it is only by making him feel the hardships of war, that we can make him sincerely desirous of peace. Even under the most arbi trary government, the voice of the people will be heard and that war which presses the most severely, both on the comforts of the people and the resources of the state, is the least likely to be of long continuance.

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