I come, now, my Lords, to the last, though not the least, part of the subject, namely, the importance of the West Indies. However much I may regret the difference of opinion with any noble Lord upon this great and important question, I am confident that the documents which shall have the honour of submitting to the House respecting the present flourishing state of our West India Settlements, must be a picture highly gratifying to every well-wisher of this country. It is highly gratifying, indeed, that I can attract your Lordships attention with this agreeable object, after we have for seven years experienced all the difficulties and dangers of a widely-extended and expensive war—a war, my Lords, in Which our naval and military prowess has rivalled, if not surpassed, the most brilliant periods of antiquity.
I shall proceed, my Lords, to the statements which I promised, with assurances that they all are extracted from the best and most incontrovertible authorities:
