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CONCLUSION OF A REMARKABLE SPEECH BY SIR W. WYNDHAM.
Sir William Wyndham concluded an excellent speech, that spoke him the unrivalled orator, the uncorrupted Briton, and the unshaken patriot, in words to this effect:—"Let us suppose a man abandoned to all notions of virtue and honour, of no great family, and but a mean fortune, raised to be chief minister of state, by the concurrence of many whimsical events; afraid or unwilling to trust any but creatures of his own making; lost to all sense of shame and reputation; ignorant of his country's true interest; pursuing no aim but that of aggrandizing himself and his favourites; in foreign affairs trusting none but those who, from the nature of their education, cannot possibly be qualified for the service of their country, or give weight and credit to their negotiations. Let us suppose the true interest of the nation by such means neglected, or misunderstood, her honour tarnished, her importance lost, her trade insulted, her merchants plundered, and her sailors murdered; and all these circumstances overlooked, lest his administration should be endangered. Suppose him next possessed of immense wealth, the plunder of the nation, with a parliament chiefly composed of members whose seats are purchased, and whose votes are bought at the expense of the public treasure. In such a parliament suppose all attempts made to inquire into his conduct, or to relieve the nation from the distress which has been entailed upon it by his administration. Suppose him screened by a corrupt majority of his creatures, whom he retains in daily pay, or engages in his particular interest, by distributing among them those posts and places which ought never to be bestowed upon any but for the good of the public. Let him plume himself upon his scandalous victory, because he has obtained a parliament like a packed jury ready to acquit him at all adventures. Let us suppose him domineering with insolence over all the men of ancient families, over all the men of sense, figure, or fortune in the nation; as he has no virtue of his own, ridiculing it in others, and endeavouring to destroy and corrupt it in all. With such a minister, and such a parliament, let us suppose a case which I hope will never happen: a prince upon the throne, uninformed, ignorant, and unacquainted with the inclinations and true interest of his people, weak, capricious, transported with unbounded ambition, and possessed with insatiable warice. I hope such a case will never occur; but, as it possibly may, could any greater curse happen to a nation than such a prince on the throne, advised, and solely advised by such a minister, and that minister supported by such a parliament? The nature of mankind cannot be altered by human laws; the existence of such a prince or such a minister we cannot prevent by act of parliament; but the existence of such a parliament I think we may prevent; as it is much more likely to exist, and may do more mischief, while the septennial law remains in force than if it were repealed; therefore, I am heartily for its being repealed." Notwithstanding the most warm, the most nervous, the most pathetic remonstrances in favour of the motion, the question was put, and it was suppressed by mere dint of number.
{1734}
The triumph of the ministry was still more complete in the success of a message delivered from the crown in the latter end of the session, when a great many members of the other party had retired to their respective habitations in the country. Sir Robert Wal-pole delivered this commission to the house, importing that his majesty might be enabled to augment his forces, if occasion should require such an augmentation, between the dissolution of this parliament and the election of another. Such an important point, that was said to strike at the foundation of our liberties, was not tamely yielded; but, on the contrary, contested with uncommon ardour. The motion for taking the message into consideration was carried in the affirmative; and an address presented to the king, signifying their compliance with his desire. In consequence of a subsequent message, they prepared and passed a bill, enabling his majesty to settle an annuity of five thousand pounds for life on the princess royal, as a mark of his paternal favour and affection.
PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED.
The opposition in the house of peers kept pace with that in the house of commons, and was supported with equal abilities, under the auspices of the lords Bathurst and Carteret, the earls of Chesterfield and Abingdon. The duke of Marlborough made a motion for a bill to regulate the army, equivalent to that which had been rejected in the lower house; and it met with the same fate after a warm dispute. Then lord Carteret moved for an address to the king, that he would be graciously pleased to acquaint the house who advised his majesty to remove the duke of Bolton and lord viscount Cobham from their respective regiments, and what crimes were laid to their charge. This proposal was likewise rejected, at the end of a debate in which the duke of Argyle observed, that two lords had been removed, but only one soldier lost his commission. Such a great majority of the Scottish representatives had always voted for the ministry since the accession of the late king, and so many of these enjoyed places and preferments in the gift of the crown, that several attempts were made by the lords in the opposition to prevent for the future the ministerial influence from extending itself to the elections of North Britain. Accordingly, two motions for this purpose were made by the carl of Marchmont and the duke of Bedford; and sustained by the earls of Chesterfield, Winchelsea, and Stair, lords Willoughby de Broke, Bathurst, and Carteret. They were opposed by the dukes of Newcastle and Argyle, the earl of Cholmondeley, earl Paulet, lord Hervey, now called up by a writ to the house of peers, and lord Talbot. The question being put on both, they were of course defeated; and the earl of Stair was deprived of his regiment of dragoons, after having performed the most signal services to the royal family, and exhausted his fortune in supporting the interest and dignity of the crown. Strenuous protests were entered against the decision of the majority concerning the king's message, demanding a power to augment his forces during the recess of parliament; as also against a bill for enabling his majesty to apply the sum of one million two hundred thousand pounds out of the sinking fund for the service of the current year. The business of the session being despatched, the king repaired to the house of lords on the sixteenth day of April, and having passed all the bills that were ready for the royal assent, took leave of this parliament, with the warmest acknowledgment of their zeal, duty, and affection. It was at first prorogued, then dissolved, and another convoked by the same proclamation. On the fourteenth day of March, the nuptials of the prince of Orange and the princess royal were solemnized with great magnificence; and this match was attended with addresses of congratulation to his majesty from different parts of the kingdom.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
DANTZIC BESIEGED BY THE RUSSIANS.
The powers at war upon the continent acted with surprising vigour. The Russian and Saxon army invested the city of Dantzic, in hopes of securing the person of king Stanislaus. The town was strong, the garrison numerous, and animated by the examples of the French and Poles, made a very obstinate defence. For some time they were supplied by sea with recruits, arms, and ammunition. On the eleventh day of May a reinforcement of fifteen hundred men was landed from two French ships of war and some transports, under fort Wechselmunde, which was so much in want of provisions, that they were not admitted; they therefore re-embarked, and sailed back to Copenhagen. But afterwards a larger number was landed in the same place, and attacked the Russian intrenchments, in order to force their way into the city. They were repulsed in this attempt, but retired in good order. At length the Russian fleet arrived, under the command of Admiral Gordon, and now the siege was carried on with great fury. Fort Wechselmunde was surrendered; the French troops capitulated, and were embarked in the Russian ships, to be conveyed to some port in the Baltic. Stanislaus escaped in the disguise of a peasant to Marienwarder in the Prussian territories. The city of Dantzic submitted to the dominion of Augustus III., king of Poland, and was obliged to defray the expense of the war to the Russian general count de Munich, who had assumed the command after the siege was begun. The Polish lords at Dantzic signed an act of submission to king Augustus, who, on the tenth day of July, arrived at the convent of Oliva. There a council was held in his presence. The recusant noblemen took the oath which he proposed. Then a general amnesty was proclaimed; and the king set out on his return to Dresden.
PHILIPSBURGH TAKEN BY THE FRENCH.
On the Rhine the French arms bore down all resistance. The count de Belleisle besieged and took Traerbach. The duke of Berwick, at the head of sixty thousand men, invested Philipsburgh, while prince Eugene was obliged to remain on the defensive, in the strong camp at Heilbron, waiting for the troops of the empire. On the twelfth day of June, the duke of Berwick, in visiting the trenches, was killed by a cannon-ball, and the command devolved upon the marquis d'Asfeldt who carried on the operations of the siege with equal vigour and capacity. Prince Eugene being joined by the different reinforcements he expected, marched towards the French lines; but found them so strong that he would not hazard an attack; and such precautions taken, that with all his military talents he could not relieve the besieged. At length general Watgenau, the governor, capitulated, after having made a noble defence, and obtained the most honourable conditions. Prince Eugene retired to Heidelberg; and the campaign ended about the beginning of October. The Imperial arms were not more successful in Italy. The infant Don Carlos had received so many invitations from the Neapolitan nobility, that he resolved to take possession of that kingdom. He began his march in February, at the head of the Spanish forces; published a manifesto, declaring he was sent by his father to relieve the kingdom of Naples from the oppression under which it groaned; and entered the capital amidst the acclamations of the people; while the count de Visconti, the German viceroy, finding himself unable to cope with the invaders, thought proper to retire, after having thrown succours into Gaeta and Capua. When he arrived at Nocera, he began to assemble the militia, with intent to form a camp at Barletta. The count de Montemar marched with a body of forces against this general, and obtained over him a complete victory at Bitonto in Apuglia, on the twenty-fifth of May, when the Imperialists were entirely routed, and a great number of principal officers taken prisoners. Don Carlos being proclaimed, and acknowledged king of Naples, created the count de Montemar duke of Bitonto; reduced Gaeta, and all other parts of the kingdom which were garrisoned with Imperial troops; and resolved to subdue the island of Sicily. About twenty thousand troops being destined for this expedition, were landed in the road of Solanto in August, under the command of the new duke of Bitonto, who being favoured by the natives, proceeded in his conquests with great rapidity. The people acknowledged Don Carlos as their sovereign, and took arms in support of his government; so that the Imperial troops were driven before them, and the Spaniards possessed the whole kingdom, except Messina, Syracuse, and Trepani, when the infant determined to visit the island in person.
BATTLE OF PARMA.
While Don Carlos was thus employed in the conquest of Naples and Sicily, the Imperialists were hard pressed in Lombardy by the united forces of France and Piedmont, commanded by the king of Sardinia and the old mareschal duke de Villars. In the month of January they undertook the siege of Tortona, which they reduced; while the troops of the emperor began to pour in great numbers into the Mantuan. In the beginning of May, count Merci, who commanded them, passed the Po in the face of the allies, notwithstanding all the skill of Villars, obliged him to retreat from the banks of that river, and took the castle of Colorno. The old French general being taken ill, quitted the army, and retired to Turin, where in a little time he died; and the king of Sardinia retiring to the same place, the command of the allied forces devolved upon the mareschal de Coigny. The confederates were posted at Sanguina, and the Imperialists at Sorbola, when the count de Merci made a motion to San Prospero, as if he intended either to attack the enemy, or take possession of Parma. The mareschal de Coigny forthwith made a disposition for an engagement; and, on the twenty-ninth day of June, the Imperial general having passed the Parma, began the attack with great impetuosity. He charged in person at the head of his troops, and was killed soon after the battle began. Nevertheless, the prince of Wirtem-berg assuming the command, both armies fought with great obstinacy from eleven in the forenoon till four in the afternoon, when the Imperialists retired towards Monte Cirugalo, leaving five thousand men dead on the field of battle, and among these many officers of distinction. The loss of the allies was very considerable, and they reaped no solid fruits from their victory.
THE IMPERIALISTS ARE AGAIN WORSTED.
The Imperial forces retreated to Reggio, and from thence moved to the plains of Carpi, on the right of the Secchia, where they received some reinforcements; then general count Konigsegg arriving in the camp, took upon himself the command of the army. His first step was to take post at Quingentolo, by which motion he secured Mirandola, that was threatened with a siege. On the fifteenth of February he forded the river Secchia, and surprised the quarters of mareschal de Broglio, who escaped in his shirt with great difficulty. The French retired with such precipitation, that they left all their baggage behind, and above two thousand were taken prisoners. They posted themselves under Gustalla, where, on the nineteenth day of the month, they were vigorously attacked by the Imperialists, and a general engagement ensued. Konigsegg made several desperate efforts to break the French cavalry, upon which, however, he could make no impression. The infantry on both sides fought with uncommon ardour for six hours, and the field was covered with carnage. At length the Imperial general retreated to Lazara, after having lost above five thousand men, including the prince of Wirtemberg, the generals Valpareze and Colminero, with many other officers of distinction; nor was the damage sustained by the French greatly inferior to that of the Germans, who repassed the Po, and took post on the banks of the Oglio. The allies crossed the same river, and the marquis de Maillibois was sent with a detachment to attack Mirandola; but the Imperialists marching to the relief of the place, compelled him to abandon the enterprise; then he rejoined his army, which retired under the walls of Cremona, to wait for succours from Don Carlos. So little respect did the French court pay to the British nation at this juncture, that in the month of November, an edict was published at Paris, commanding all the British subjects in France, who were not actually in employment, from the age of eighteen to fifty, to quit the kingdom in fifteen days, or enlist in some of the Irish regiments, on pain of being treated as vagabonds, and sent to the galleys. This edict was executed with the utmost rigour. The prisons of Paris were crowded with the subjects of Great Britain, who were surprised and cut off from all communication with their friends, and must have perished by cold and hunger, had not they been relieved by the active charity of the Jansenists. The earl of Waldegrave, who then resided at Paris, as ambassador from the king of Great Britain, made such vigorous remonstrances to the French ministry upon this unheard of outrage against a nation with which they had been so long in alliance, that they thought proper to set the prisoners at liberty, and publish another edict, by which the meaning of the former was explained away.
NEW PARLIAMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN.
While these transactions occurred on the continent, the king of Great Britain augmented his land-forces; and warm contests were maintained through the whole united kingdom in electing representatives for the new parliament. But in all these struggles the ministerial power predominated; and the new members appeared with the old complexion. The two houses assembled on the fourteenth day of January, and Mr. Onslow was re-elected speaker. The leaders of both parties in all debates, were the self-same persons who had conducted those of the former parliament; and the same measure were pursued in the same manner. The king in his speech at the opening of the session, gave them to understand, that he had concerted with the states-general of the United Provinces such measures as were thought most advisable for their common safety, and for restoring the peace of Europe; that they had considered on one side the pressing applications made by the Imperial court both in England and Holland, for obtaining succours against the powers at war with the house of Austria; and, on the other side, the repeated professions made by the allies of their sincere disposition to put an end to the present troubles upon honourable and solid terms; that he and the states-general had concurred in a resolution to employ their joint and earnest instances to bring matters to a speedy and happy accommodation; that their good offices were at length accepted; and in a short time a plan would be offered to the consideration of all parties engaged in the war, as a basis for a general negotiation of peace. He told them he had used the power vested in him by the last parliament with great moderation; and concluded a treaty with the crown of Denmark of great importance in the present conjuncture. He observed, that whilst many of the principal powers of Europe were actually engaged in a war, Great Britain must be more or less affected with the consequences; and as the best concerted measures are liable to uncertainty, the nation ought to be prepared against all events. He therefore expressed his hope, that his good subjects would not repine at the necessary means of procuring the blessings of peace and universal tranquillity, or of putting him in a condition to act that part which it might be necessary and incumbent upon him to take. The address of thanks produced a dispute as usual, which ended with an acquiescence in the motion The house, in a grand committee on the supply, resolved, That thirty thousand seamen should be employed for the service of the ensuing year; and that the land-forces should be augmented to the number of twenty-five thousand seven hundred and forty-four effective men. But these resolutions were not taken without dispute and division. The minister's opponents not only reproduced all the reasons which had been formerly advanced against a standing army, but they opposed this augmentation with extraordinary ardour, as a huge stride towards the establishment of arbitrary power. They refuted those fears of eternal broils on which the ministry pretended to ground the necessity of such an augmentation; and they exposed the weak conduct of the administration, in having contributed to destroy the balance of power, by assisting Spain against the emperor in Italy, so as to aggrandize the house of Bourbon.
DEBATE ON A SUBSIDY TO DENMARK.
Sir William Wyndham moved, that the estimate of the navy for the ensuing year might be referred to a select committee. He expressed his surprise, that notwithstanding the vast sums which had been yearly raised, and the long continuance of the peace, the people had not been quite delivered of any one tax incurred in the preceding war. He said, he could not comprehend how it was possible to find pretences for exposing the nation to such exorbitant charges; and he took notice of some unconsionable articles in the accounts of the navy-debt that lay upon the table. He was seconded by Mr. Sandys, and supported by sir J. Jekyll and Mr. Pulteney; but after some debate, the motion was carried in the negative. When the new treaty with Denmark fell under consideration in a grand committee, Mr. H. Walpole moved, that the sum of fifty-six thousand two hundred and fifty pounds, should be granted to his majesty as a subsidy to the Dane, pursuant to the said treaty, for the service of the ensuing year. The demand did not meet with immediate compliance. All the leaders in the opposition exclaimed against the subsidy as unnecessary and unreasonable. They observed, that as the English had no particular interest of their own for inducing them to engage in the present war, but only the danger to which the balance of power might be exposed by that event; and as all the powers of Europe were as much, if not more, interested than the English in the preservation of that balance, should it ever be really endangered, they would certainly engage in its defence, without receiving any valuable consideration from Great Britain; but should the English be always the first to take the alarm upon any rupture, and offer bribes and pensions to all the princes in Europe, the whole charge of preserving that balance would fall upon Great Britain; every state would expect a gratification from her, for doing that which it would otherwise be obliged to do for its own preservation; even the Dutch might at last refuse to assist in trimming this balance, unless Britain should submit to make the grand pensionary of Holland a pensionary of England, and take a number of their forces into English pay. The debate having had its free course, the question was put, and the motion approved by the majority. The ministry allowed a bill to be brought in for limiting the number of officers in the house of commons; but at the second reading it was rejected upon a division, after a learned debate, in which it appeared that the opposition had gained a valuable auxiliary in the person of lord Pol-worth, son to the earl of Marchmont, a nobleman of elegant parts, keen penetration, and uncommon vivacity, who spoke with all the fluency and fervour of elocution.
PETITION OF SOME SCOTTISH NOBLEMEN.
The minority in the house of lords were not less vigilant and resolute in detecting and opposing every measure which they thought would redound to the prejudice of their country. But the most remarkable object that employed their attention during this session, was a very extraordinary petition subscribed by the dukes of Hamilton, Queensberry, and Montrose, the earls of Dundonald, Marchmont, and Stair, representing that undue influence had been used for carrying on the election of the sixteen peers of Scotland. The duke of Bedford, who delivered their petition to the house, proposed a day for taking it into consideration; and to this they agreed. It was afterwards moved, that the consideration of it should be adjourned to a short day, before which the petitioners should be ordered to declare whether they intended to controvert the last election of all the sixteen peers, or the election of any, and which of them. This affair was of such an unprecedented nature, that the house seemed to be divided in opinion about the manner in which they ought to proceed. The partisans of the ministry would have willingly stifled the inquiry in the beginning; but the petitioners were so strenuously supported in their claim to some notice, by the earls of Chesterfield, Abingdon, and Strafford, the lords Bathurst and Carteret, that they could not dismiss it at once with any regard to decorum. The order of the house, according to the motion explained above, being communicated by the lord-chancellor to the petitioners, they waited on him with a declaration, importing, that they did not intend to controvert the election or return of the sixteen peers for Scotland; but they thought it their duty to lay before their lordships the evidence of such facts and undue methods as appeared to them to be dangerous to the constitution; and might in future elections equally affect the right of the present sixteen peers, as that of the other peers of Scotland, if not prevented by a proper remedy. This declaration being repeated to the house, the duke of Devonshire made a motion, that the petitioners might be ordered to lay before the house in writing, instances of those undue methods and illegal practices upon which they intended to proceed, and the names of the persons they suspected to be guilty. He was warmly opposed by the country party; and a long debate ensued, after which the question was carried in favour of the motion, and the order signified to the petitioners. Next day their answer was read to the house to this effect: That as they had no intention to state themselves accusers, they could not take upon them to name particular persons who might have been concerned in those illegal practices; but who they were would undoubtedly appear to their lordships upon their taking the proper examinations: nevertheless, they did humbly acquaint their lordships, that the petition was laid before them upon information that the list of the sixteen peers for Scotland had been framed previous to the election, by persons in high trust under the crown; that this list was shown to peers, as a list approved by the crown; and was called the king's list, from which there was to be no variation, unless to make way for one or two particular peers, on condition they should conform to measures; that peers were solicited to vote for this list, without the liberty of making any alteration; that endeavours were used to engage peers to vote for this list by promise of pensions, and offices civil and military to themselves and relations, as well as by offers of money: that sums were given for this purpose; that pensions, offices, and releases of debts owing to the crown, were actually granted to peers who concurred in voting for this list, and to their relations; that on the day of election a battalion of his majesty's troops were drawn up in the Abbey-court of Edinburgh, contrary to custom, and without any apparent cause but that of over-awing the electors. This answer gave rise to another violent dispute; but the majority voted it unsatisfactory, and the petition was rejected, though the resolution was clogged with a vigorous protest.
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Notwithstanding this discouragement, the earl of Abingdon moved, that although the petition was dismissed, an inquiry might be set on foot touching an affair of such consequence to the liberties of the kingdom. The earl of Hay declaring his belief that no such illegal methods had been practised, the other produced a pamphlet, intituled, The Protests of a great Number of Noble Lords, entered by them at the last Election of Peers for Scotland. Exceptions being taken to a pamphlet, as an object unworthy of their notice, lord Bathurst exhibited an authentic copy of those protests, extracted from the journal of that election, signed by the two principal clerks, and witnessed by two gentlemen then attending in the lobby. These were accordingly read, and plainly demonstrated the truth of the allegations contained in the petition. Nothing could be more scandalous, arrogant, and shamefully flagrant, than the conduct and deportment of those who acted the part of understrappers to the ministry on this occasion. But all this demonstration, adorned and enforced by the charms and energy of eloquence, was like preaching in a desert. A motion was made for adjourning, and carried in the affirmative: a protest was entered, and the whole affair consigned to oblivion. Divers other motions were made successively by the lords in the opposition, and rejected by the invincible power of a majority. The uninterrupted success of the ministry did not, however, prevent them from renewing the struggle as often as an opportunity offered. They disputed the continuation of the salt-tax, and the bill for enabling the king to apply the sum of one million out of the sinking fund for the service of the current year, though success did not attend their endeavours. They supported with all their might a bill sent up from the commons, explaining and amending an act of the Scottish parliament, for preventing wrongous imprisonment, and against undue delays in trials. This was all the natives of Scotland had in lieu of the habeas-corpus act; though it did not screen them from oppression. Yet the earl of Hay undertook to prove they were on a footing with their neighbours of England in this respect; and the bill was thrown out on a division. The session was closed on the fifteenth of May, when the king in his speech to both houses declared that the plan of pacification, concerted between him and the states-general, had not produced the desired effect. He thanked the commons for the supplies they had granted with such cheerfulness and despatch. He signified his intention to visit his German dominions; and told them he should constitute the queen regent of the realm in his absence. Immediately after the prorogation his majesty embarked for Holland, in his way to Hanover.
MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE COURTS OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
By this time the good understanding between the courts of Madrid and Lisbon was destroyed by a remarkable incident. The Portuguese ambassador at Madrid having allowed his servants to rescue a criminal from the officers of justice, all the servants concerned in that rescue were dragged from his house to prison, by the Spanish king's order, with circumstances of rigour and disgrace. His Portuguese majesty being informed of this outrage, ordered reprisals to be made upon the servants of the Spanish ambassador in Lisbon. The two ministers withdrew abruptly to their respective courts. The two monarchs expressed their mutual resentment. The king of Spain assembled a body of troops on the frontiers of Portugal; and his Portuguese majesty had recourse to the assistance of king George. Don Marcos Antonio d'Alzeveda was despatched to London with the character of envoy-extraordinary; and succeeded in his commission according to his wish. In a little time after the king's departure from England, sir John Norris sailed from Spithead with a powerful squadron, in order to protect the Portuguese against the Spaniards; and on the ninth day of June arrived at Lisbon, where he was welcomed as a deliverer. Mr. Keene, the British envoy at the court of Spain, had communicated to his catholic majesty the resolution of his master to send a powerful squadron to Lisbon, with orders to guard that coast from insults, and secure the Brazil fleet, in which the merchants of Great Britain were deeply interested. Don Joseph Patinho, minister of his catholic majesty, delivered a memorial to Mr. Keene, representing that such an expedition would affect the commerce of Spain, by intimidating foreign merchants from embarking their merchandise in the flota. But, in all probability, it prevented a rupture between the two crowns, and disposed the king of Spain to listen to terms of accommodation.
PRELIMINARIES SIGNED BY THE EMPEROR AND THE KING OF FRANCE.
The powers in alliance against the house of Austria having rejected the plan of pacification concerted by the king of Great Britain and the states-general, Mr. Wal-pole, ambassador at the Hague, presented a memorial to their high mightinesses, desiring they would, without loss of time, put themselves in a posture of defence by an augmentation of their forces by sea and land; that they might take such vigorous steps in concert with Great Britain, as the future conjuncture of affairs might require. But before they would subject themselves to such expense, they resolved to make further trial of their influence with the powers in alliance against the emperor; and conferences were renewed with the ministers of those allies. The affairs of Poland became more and more unfavourable to the interest of Stanislaus; for though a great number of the Polish nobility engaged in a confederacy to support his claim, and made repeated efforts in his behalf, the palatine of Kiow submitted to Augustus; and even his brother the primate, after having sustained a long imprisonment, and many extraordinary hardships, was obliged to acknowledge that prince his sovereign. In Italy, the arms of the allies still continued to prosper. Don Carlos landed in Sicily, and reduced the whole island almost without opposition; while the Imperialists were forced to abandon all the territories they possessed in Italy, except the Mantuan. The emperor being equally unable to cope with the French armies on the Rhine, implored succours of the czarina, who sent thirty thousand men to his assistance. This vigorous interposition, and the success of Augustus in Poland, disposed the court of Versailles to a pacification. A secret negotiation was begun between France and the house of Austria; and the preliminaries were signed without the concurrence or knowledge of Spain, Sardinia, and the maritime powers. In these articles it was stipulated that France should restore all the conquests she had made in Germany; that the reversion of the dukedom of Tuscany should be vested in the duke of Lorraine; that Lorraine should be allotted to king Stanislaus, and after his death be united to the crown of France; that the emperor should possess the Milanese, the Mantuan, and Parma; that the king of Sardinia should enjoy Vigevano and Novara; that Don Carlos should be acknowledged king of Naples and Sicily, and retain the island of Elba, with all the Spanish territories on the coast of Tuscany; and that France should guarantee the pragmatic sanction.
PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.
The king of Great Britain returned from Hanover to England in the month of November; and on the fifteenth day of January opened the session of parliament. On this occasion he congratulated them on the near prospect of a general peace in Europe in consequence of the preliminary articles which the emperor and the king of France had agreed; and of which he had expressed his approbation, as they did not differ in any essential point from the plan of pacification which he and the states-general had offered to the belligerent powers. He told them that he had already ordered a considerable reduction to be made in his forces both by sea and land; but at the same time observed it would be necessary to continue some extraordinary expense, until a more perfect reconciliation should be established among the several powers of Europe. An address of thanks was unanimously voted, presented, and graciously received. After the house had received several petitions from different counties and gentlemen, complaining of undue influence in elections for members of parliament, it proceeded to consider of the supply, and sir Charles Wager moving that fifteen thousand seaman should be employed for the service of the ensuing year, the proposal was approved without opposition. But this was not the case with a motion made by Mr. Pulteney, "That the ordinary estimates of the navy should be referred to a select committee." The ministry discouraged all such prying measures: a debate was produced, the house divided, and the motion was rejected. Such was the fate of s motion for raising the supplies within the year, made by Mr. Sandys, and supported by sir John Barnard, Mr. Willimot, and other patriots, who demonstrated that this was a speedy and practicable expedient for discharging the national debt, lowering the interest of money, reducing the price of labour, and encouraging a spirit of commerce.
BILL FOR THE RELIEF OF QUAKERS IN THE ARTICLE OF TITHES.
The bill for limiting the number of officers in the house of commons was again revived. The king was empowered to borrow six hundred thousand pounds, chargeable on the sinking fund, for the service of the ensuing year, though this power was not easily granted; and the house resolved to lay a duty of twenty shillings per gallon on all spirituous liquors, after it had appeared to the committee appointed for that purpose, that those spirits were pernicious to the health and morals of the people. To this resolution was added another, which amounted to a total prohibition, namely, that fifty pounds should be yearly paid to his majesty for a license to be annually taken out by every person who should vend, barter, or utter any such spirituous liquors. Mr. Walter Plummer, in a well concerted speech, moved for the repeal of some clauses in the Test act: these he represented as a species of persecution, in which protestant dissenters were confounded with the Roman catholics and enemies to the establishment. He was sustained by lord Polworth and Mr. Heathcote; but sir Robert Walpole was joined by Mr. Shippen against the motion, as dangerous to the established church; and the question being put, it was carried in the negative.
{1736}
When sir Joseph Jekyll presented to the house, according to order, a bill founded on the resolutions they had taken against spirituous liquors, sir Robert Walpole acquainted them, by his majesty's command, that as the alterations proposed to be made by that bill in the duties charged upon all spirituous liquors might, in a great degree, affect some part of the civil list revenues, his majesty, for the sake of remedying so great an evil as was intended by that bill to be prevented, did consent to accept any other revenue of equal value, to be settled and appropriated in lieu of his interest in the said duties. The bill was read a second time, and consigned to a committee of the whole house; but that for limiting the number of officers in the house of commons was thrown out at the second reading. Petitions against the bill touching the retail of spirituous liquors, were presented by the traders to the British sugar colonies, by the merchants of Bristol and Liverpool, representing the hardships to which they would be exposed by a law which amounted to a prohibition of rum and spirits distilled from molasses. In consequence of these remonstrances, a mitigating clause was inserted, in favour of the composition known by the name of punch, and distillers were permitted to exercise any other employment. The sum of seventy thousand pounds was voted for making good the deficiencies that might happen in the civil list by this bill, which at length passed through the house, though not without reiterated disputes and warm altercation. Violent opposition was likewise made to a bill for the relief the people called quakers, who offered a petition, representing, that though from motives of conscience they refused the payment of tithes, church-rates, oblations, and ecclesiastical dues, they were exposed to grievous sufferings by prosecution in the exchequer, ecclesiastical, and other courts, to the imprisonment of their persons, and the ruin of them and their families. A bill being prepared for their relief, was read and printed; then petitions were preferred against it by the clergy of Middlesex, and of many other parts of the kingdom. Counsel was heard in behalf of those petitioners, and several alterations proposed in the bill, which after long and repeated debates surmounted all opposition, and was sent up to the lords.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
MORTMAIN ACT.
In the month of February the king had sent two members of the privy-council to the prince of Wales, with a message, proposing a marriage between his royal highness and the princess of Saxe-gotha. The proposal being agreeable to the prince, the marriage was celebrated on the twenty-seventh day of April. Upon this occasion Mr. Pulteney moved for an address of congratulation to his majesty, and was supported by Mr. George Lyttleton and Mr. William Pitt, who seized this opportunity of pronouncing elegant panegyrics on the prince of Wales and' his amiable consort. These two young members soon distinguished themselves in the house by their eloquence and superior talents. The attention of the house was afterwards converted to a bill for the preventing of smuggling; and another for explaining the act for the more effectual preventing bribery and corruption in the election of members to serve in parliament. Both made their way through the lower house, and were sent up to the lords for their concurrence. The number of land forces voted for the service of the current year was reduced to seventeen thousand seven hundred and four effective men. The supplies were raised by the malt-tax and land-tax at two shillings in the pound, additional duties on mum, cider, and perry, stamped vellum, parchment, and paper; and by an act empowering his majesty to borrow six hundred thousand pounds of the sinking fund. In this session the parliament repealed the old statutes of England and Scotland against conjuration, witchcraft, and dealing with evil spirit's. The commons likewise prepared a bill to restrain the disposition of lands in mortmain, whereby they became unalienable. Against this measure petitions were presented by the two universities, the colleges of Eton, Winchester, and Westminster, and divers hospitals that subsisted by charitable donations. In favour of the universities and colleges a particular exempting clause was inserted. Several other amendments were made in the bill, which passed through both houses, and obtained the royal assent. Among the acts passed in this session, was one for naturalizing her royal highness the princess of Wales; and another for building a bridge across the Thames from New Palace-yard, in the city of Westminster, to the opposite shore in the county of Surrey. The points chiefly debated in the house of lords were the address of thanks for his majesty's speech, the mortmain bill, the Quakers' bill, which was thrown out, and that for the prevention of smuggling, which did not pass without division and protest. On the twentieth day of May the king closed the session with a speech, in which he told both houses that a farther convention, touching the execution of the preliminaries, had been made and communicated to him by the emperor and most christian king, and that negotiations were carrying on by the several powers engaged in the late war, in order to settle a general pacification. He expressed great concern at seeing such seeds of dissatisfaction sown among his people; he protested it was his desire, and should be his care, to preserve the present constitution in church and state, as by law established; he recommended harmony and mutual affection among all protestants of the nation, as the great security of that happy establishment; and signified his intention to visit his German dominions. Accordingly, the parliament was no sooner prorogued than he set out for Hanover, after having appointed the queen regent in his absence.
REMARKABLE RIOT AT EDINBURGH.
Such a degree of licentiousness prevailed over the whole nation, that the kingdom was filled with tumult and riots, which might have been prevented by proper regulations of the civil government in a due execution of the laws. The most remarkable of these disturbances happened at Edinburgh, on the seventh day of September. John Porteous, who commanded the guard paid by that city, a man of brutal disposition and abandoned morals, had, at the execution of a smuggler, been provoked by some insults from the populace to order his men, without using the previous formalities of the law, to fire with shot among the crowd; by which precipitate order several innocent persons lost their lives. Porteous was tried for murder, convicted, and received sentence of death; but the queen, as guardian of the realm, thought proper to indulge him with a reprieve. The common people of Edinburgh resented this lenity shown to a criminal, who was the object of their detestation. They remembered that pardons had been granted to divers military delinquents in that country, who had been condemned by legal trial. They seemed to think those were encouragements to oppression; they were fired by a national jealousy; they were stimulated by the relations and friends of those who had been murdered; and they resolved to wreak their vengeance on the author of that tragedy, by depriving him of life on the very day which the judges had fixed for his execution. Thus determined, they assembled in different bodies about ten o'clock at night. They blocked up the gates of the city, to prevent the admission of the troops that were quartered in the suburbs. They surprised and disarmed the town guards; they broke open the prison doors; dragged Porteous from thence to the place of execution; and, leaving him hanging by the neck on a dyer's pole, quietly dispersed to their several habitations. This exploit was performed with such conduct and deliberation as seemed to be the result of a plan formed by some persons of consequence; it, therefore, became the object of a very severe inquiry.
RUPTURE BETWEEN THE CZARINA AND THE OTTOMAN PORTE.
During this summer a rupture happened between the Turks and the Russians, which last reduced the city of Azoph on the Black Sea, and overrun the greatest part of Crim Tartary. The czarina declared war against the Ottoman Porte, because the Tartars of the Crimea had made incursions upon her frontiers; and, when she complained of these disorders to the vizier, she received no satisfaction; besides, a large body of Tartars had, by order of that minister, marched through the Russian provinces in despite of the empress, and committed terrible havoc in their route. The emperor was obliged to engage as a party in this war, by a treaty offensive and defensive, which he had many years before concluded with the czarina. Yet, before he declared himself, he joined the maritime powers in offering his mediation to the sultan, who was very well disposed to peace; but the czarina insisted upon her retaining Azoph, which her forces had reduced; and this preliminary article being rejected, as dishonourable to the Ottoman empire, the court of Vienna began to make preparations for war. By this time all the belligerent powers in Italy had agreed to the preliminaries of peace concluded between the emperor and France. The duke of Lorraine had espoused the emperor's eldest daughter, the archduchess Maria Theresa, and ceded Lorraine to France, even before he succeeded to Tuscany. Don Carlos was crowned king of Sicily; Stanislaus abdicated the crown of Poland; and Augustus was universally acknowledged sovereign of that kingdom. The preliminaries were approved and accepted by the diet of the empire; the king of Spain sent orders for his troops to evacuate Tuscany; and the provinces in Italy yielded to the house of Austria. Prince Eugene, who had managed the interest of the emperor on this occasion, did not live to see the happy fruits of this negotiation. He died at Vienna, in April, at the age of seventy-three, leaving behind him the character of an invincible hero and consummate politician. He was not long survived by count Staremberg, another Imperial general who ranked next to the prince in military reputation. About the same time Great Britain sustained a national loss in the death of lord chancellor Talbot, who, by his worth, probity, and acquired accomplishments, had dignified the great office to which he had been raised. He died universally lamented, in the month of February, at the age of fifty-two, and was succeeded on the bench by lord Hardwicke.
THE SESSION OF PARLIAMENT OPENED
The king being indisposed, in consequence of having been fatigued by a very tempestuous passage from Holland, the parliament was prorogued from the twenty-first day of January to the first of February, and then the session was opened by commission. The lord chancellor, as one of the peers authorised by this commission, made a speech in his majesty's name to both houses. With respect to foreign affairs, he told them that the respective acts of cession being exchanged, and orders given for the evacuation and possession of the several countries and places by the powers concerned, according to the allotment and disposition of the preliminary articles, the great work of re-establishing the general tranquillity was far advanced; that, however, common prudence called upon them to be very attentive to the final conclusion of the new settlement. He said his majesty could not without surprise and concern observe the many contrivances and attempts carried on, in various shapes, and in different parts of the nation, tumultuously to resist and obstruct the execution of the laws, and to violate the peace of the kingdom. He observed, that the consideration of the height to which those audacious practices might rise, if not timely suppressed, afforded a melancholy prospect, and required particular attention, lest they should affect private persons in the quiet enjoyment of their property, as well as the general peace and good order of the whole. After the commons had agreed to an address, and heard counsel on some controverted elections, they proceeded to take the supply into consideration. They voted ten thousand men for the sea-service. They continued for the land-service the same number they had maintained in times of tranquillity, amounting to seventeen thousand seven hundred and four; but this measure was not adopted without opposition; the money was raised by the land and malt-taxes, reinforced with one million granted out of the sinking fund.
MOTION IN BOTH HOUSES FOR A SETTLEMENT ON THE PRINCE OF WALES.
The chief subject of contention that presented itself in the course of this session, was a motion which Mr. Pulteney made for an address to his majesty, that he would be pleased to settle one hundred thousand pounds a year upon the prince of Wales. He represented that such provision was conformable to the practice of ancient times; that what he proposed had been enjoyed by his present majesty in the life-time of his father; and that a settlement of this nature was reasonable and necessary to ascertain the independency of the apparent heir to the crown. The motion was vigorously opposed by sir Robert Walpole, as an encroachment on the prerogative; as an officious intermeddling in the king's family affairs; and as an effort to set his majesty and the prince at variance. But a misunderstanding, it seems, had already happened in the royal family. The minister, in the midst of his harangue, told the house by his majesty's command, that on the preceding day the king had sent a message to the prince by several noblemen of the first quality, importing, that his majesty had given orders for settling a jointure upon the princess of Wales, suitable to her high rank and dignity, which he would in a proper time lay before parliament, in order to be rendered more certain and effectual; that, although his royal highness had not thought fit, by any application to his majesty, to desire that his allowance of fifty thousand pounds might be rendered less precarious, the king, to prevent the bad consequences which he apprehended might follow from the undutiful measures which his majesty was informed the prince had been advised to pursue, would grant to his royal highness, for his majesty's life, the said fifty thousand pounds per annum, to be issued out of the civil list revenues, over and above the prince's revenues arising from the duchy of Cornwall, which his majesty thought a very competent allowance, considering his own numerous issue, and the great expense which did and must necessarily attend an honourable provision for the whole royal family; that the prince, by a verbal answer, desired their lordships to lay him with all humility at his majesty's feet; to assure him that he did, and ever should, retain the utmost duty for his royal person; that he was very thankful for any instance of his majesty's goodness to him or to the princess, and particularly for his majesty's gracious intention of settling a jointure upon her royal highness; but that, as to the message, the affair was now out of his hands, and therefore he could give no answer to it; that his royal highness afterwards used many dutiful expressions towards his majesty; adding, "Indeed, my lords, it is in other hands, and I am sorry for it;" or words to that effect. Sir Robert Walpole then endeavoured to demonstrate, that the annual sum of fifty thousand pounds was as much as the king could afford to allow for the prince's maintenance; and he expatiated upon the bad consequences that might ensue, if the son should be rendered altogether independent of the father.
These suggestions did not pass unanswered. Sir Robert Walpole had asserted, that the parliament had no right to interfere in the creation or maintenance of a prince of Wales; and that in the case of Richard II., who, upon the death of his father, the Black Prince, was created prince of Wales, in consequence of an address or petition from parliament, that measure was in all probability directed by the king himself. In answer to this assertion, it was observed, that probably the king would not have been so forward in creating his grandson prince of Wales, if he had not been forced into this step by his parliament; for Edward in his old age fell into a sort of love dotage, and gave himself entirely up to the management of his mistress, Alice Pierce, and his second son, the duke of Lancaster; a circumstance that raised a most reasonable jealousy in the Black Prince, at that time on his death-bed, who could not but be anxious about the safety and right of his only son, whom he found he was soon to leave a child in the hands of a doating grandfather and an ambitious aspiring uncle. The supporters of the motion observed, that the allowance of fifty thousand pounds was not sufficient to defray the prince's yearly expense, without alloting one shilling for acts of charity and munificence; and that the several deductions for land taxes and fees reduced it to forty-three thousand pounds. They affirmed, that his whole income, including the revenues of the duchy of Cornwall, did not exceed fifty-two thousand pounds a-year, though, by his majesty's own regulation, the expense of the prince's household amounted to sixty-three thousand. They proved that the produce of the civil list exceeded nine hundred thousand pounds, a sum above one hundred thousand pounds a-year more than was enjoyed by his late majesty; and that, in the first year of the late king, the whole expense of his household and civil government did not much exceed four hundred and fifty thousand pounds a-year. They observed, that the parliament added one hundred and forty thousand pounds annually for acts of charity and bounty, together with the article of secret-service money; and allowed one hundred thousand pounds for the maintenance of the prince of Wales; that the article of secret-service money had prodigiously increased in the late reign; by an account which happened to be laid before the parliament, it appeared that vast sums of money had been given for purposes which nobody understood, and to persons whom nobody knew. In the beginning of the following session several members proposed that this extraordinary account should be taken into consideration; but the inquiry was warded off by the other party, who declared that the parliament could not examine any account which had been presented to a former session. The debate was fierce and long; and ended in a division, by which the motion was rejected. A motion of the same nature was made by lord Carteret in the house of peers, and gave rise to a very keen dispute, maintained by the same arguments, and issuing in the same termination.
SCHEME FOR REDUCING THE INTEREST OF THE NATIONAL DEBT.
The next remarkable contest was occasioned by a motion of sir Robert Walpole, who proposed the sum of one million should be granted to his majesty, towards redeeming the like sum of the increased capital of the South-Sea company, commonly called the South-Sea annuities. Several members argued for the expediency of applying this sum to the payment of the debt due to the Bank, as part of that incumbrance was saddled with an interest of six per cent., whereas the interest paid for the other sums that constituted the public debt did not exceed four per cent. Many plausible arguments were offered on both sides of the question; and at length the motion was carried in the affirmative. The house having resolved itself into a committee to consider of the national debt, sir John Barnard made a motion, for enabling his majesty to raise money either by the sale of annuities, or by borrowing at an interest not exceeding three per cent., to be applied towards redeeming the South-Sea annuities; and that such of the said annuitants as should be inclined to subscribe their respective annuities, should be preferred to all others. He said, that even those public securities which bore an interest of three per cent, only, were sold at a premium in 'Change-alley: he was therefore persuaded, that all those who were willing to give a premium for a three per cent, security, would gladly lend their money to the government at the same interest, should books of subscription be opened for that purpose, with an assurance that no part of the principal should be paid off for fourteen years. He expatiated on the national advantages that would accrue from a reduction of interest. From easy and obvious calculations he inferred, that in a very little time the interest upon all the South-Sea annuities would be reduced from four to three per cent., without any danger to public credit, or breach of public faith; that then the produce of the sinking fund would amount to fourteen hundred thousand pounds per annum, to be applied only towards redeeming the capital of the several trading companies; he proved that this measure would bring every one of them so much within the power of parliament, that they would be glad to accept of three per cent, interest on any reasonable terms; in which case the sinking-fund would rise to one million six hundred thousand pounds per annum. Then the parliament might venture to annihilate one half of it, by freeing the people from the taxes upon coals, candles, soap, leather, and other such impositions as lay heavy upon the poor labourers and manufacturers; the remaining part of the sinking-fund might be applied towards the discharge of those annuities and public debts which bore an interest of three per cent, only, and afterwards towards diminishing the capitals of the several trading companies till the term of fourteen years should be expired; then the sinking-fund would again amount to above a million yearly, which would be sufficient for paying them off, and freeing the nation entirely from all its incumbrances. This salutary scheme was violently opposed by alderman Heathcote, and other partisans of the ministry; yet all their objections were refuted; and, in order to defeat the project, they were obliged to have recourse to artifice. Mr. Winnington moved, that all the public creditors, as well as the South-Sea annuitants, should be comprehended. Sir John Barnard demonstrated that it might be easy for the government to borrow money at three per cent, sufficient for paying off such of the proprietors of four-and-twenty millions as were not willing to accept of that interest; but it would be extremely difficult to borrow enough to satisfy the proprietors of four-and-forty millions, who might choose to have their principal rather than such an interest. Nevertheless, resolutions were founded on this and other alterations of the original scheme; and a bill was immediately prepared. It produced many other debates, and was at last postponed by dint of ministerial influence. The same venerable patriot, who projected this scheme, moved that, as soon as the interest of all the national redeemable debt should be reduced to three per cent., the house would take off some of the heavy taxes which oppressed the poor and the manufacturers: but this motion was rejected by the majority.
{1737}
BILL AGAINST THE CITY OF EDINBURGH.
The last disputes of this session were excited by a bill sent down from the lords for punishing the magistrates and city of Edinburgh, on account of the murder of John Porteous. In the beginning of the session, lord Carteret recapitulated the several tumults and riots which had lately happened in different parts of the kingdom. He particularly insisted upon the atrocious murder of captain Porteous, as a flagrant insult upon the government, and a violation of the public peace, so much the more dangerous, as it seemed to have been concerted and executed with deliberation and decency. He suspected that some citizens of Edinburgh had been concerned in the murder; not only from this circumstance, but likewise because, notwithstanding the reward of two hundred pounds which had been offered by proclamation for the discovery of any person who acted in that tragedy, not one individual had as yet been detected. He seemed to think that the magistrates had encouraged the riot, and that the city had forfeited its charter; and he proposed a minute inquiry into the particulars of the affair. He was seconded by the duke of Newcastle and the earl of Hay; though the last nobleman differed in opinion with him in respect to the charter of the city, which, he said, could not be justly forfeited by the fault of the magistracy. The lords resolved, That the magistrates and other persons from whom they might obtain the necessary information concerning this riot, should be ordered to attend; and that an address should be presented to his majesty, desiring that the different accounts and papers relating to the murder of captain Porteous, might be submitted to the perusal of the house. These documents being accordingly examined, and all the witnesses arrived, including three Scottish judges, a debate arose about the manner in which these last should be interrogated, whether at the bar, at the table, or on the woolsacks. Some Scottish lords asserted, that they had a right to be seated next to the judges of England; but after a long debate this claim was rejected, and the judges of Scotland appeared at the bar in their robes. A bill was brought in to disable Alexander Wilson, esquire, lord-provost of Edinburgh, from enjoying any office or place of magistracy in the city of Edinburgh, or elsewhere in Great Britain; for imprisoning the said Alexander Wilson; for abolishing the guard of that city; and for taking away the gates of the Netherbow-port, so as to open a communication between the city and the suburbs, in which the king's troops are quartered. The duke of Argyle, in arguing against this bill, said he could not think of a proceeding more harsh or unprecedented than the present, as he believed there was no instance of the whole weight of parliamentary indignation, for such he called a proceeding by a bill ex post facto, falling upon any single person, far less upon any community, for crimes that were within the reach of the inferior courts of justice; for this reason he observed, that if the lord-provost and citizens of Edinburgh should suffer in the terms of the present bill, they would suffer by a cruel, unjust, and fantastical proceeding; a proceeding of which the worst use might be made, if ever the nation should have the misfortune to fall under a partial self-interested administration. He told them he sat in the parliament of Scotland when that part of the treaty of Union relating to the privileges of the royal burghs, was settled on the same footing as religion; that is, they were made unalterable by any subsequent parliament of Great Britain. Notwithstanding the eloquence and warmth of his remonstrance, the bill was sent down to the house of commons, where it produced a violent contest. The commons set on foot a severe scrutiny into the particular circumstances that preceded and attended the murder of Porteous; from the examination of the witnesses, it appeared that no freeman or citizen of Edinburgh was concerned in the riot, which was chiefly composed of country people, excited by the relations of some unhappy persons whom Porteous and his men had slain at the execution of the smuggler; and these were assisted by 'prentice-boys and the lowest class of vagabonds that happened to be at Edinburgh; that the lord-provost had taken all the precautions to prevent mischief that his reflection suggested; that he even exposed his person to the rage of the multitude, in his endeavour to disperse them; and that, if he had done amiss, he erred from want of judgment rather than from want of inclination to protect the unhappy Porteous. It likewise appeared that Mr. Lindsay, member for the city of Edinburgh, had gone in person to general Moyle, commander of the forces in North Britain, informed him of the riot, implored his immediate assistance, and promised to conduct his troops into the city; and that his suit was rejected, because he could not produce a written order from the magistracy, which he neither could have obtained in such confusion, nor ventured to carry about his person through the midst of an enraged populace. The Scottish members exerted themselves with uncommon vivacity in defence of their capital. They were joined by sir John Barnard, lord Cornbury, Mr. Shippen, and Mr. Oglethorpe. Lord Polworth declared, that if any gentleman would show where one argument in the charge against the lord-provost and the city of Edinburgh had been proved, he would that instant give his vote for the commitment of the bill. He said, if gentlemen would lay their hands upon their hearts, and ask themselves, whether they would have voted in this manner had the case of Edinburgh been that of the cities of Bristol, York, or Norwich, he was persuaded they would have required that every tittle of the charge against them should have been fully and undeniably proved. Some amendments and mitigations being inserted in the bill, it passed the house, was sent back to the lords, who agreed to the alterations, and then received the royal assent.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
PLAY-HOUSE BILL.
The next effort of the minister was obliquely levelled at the liberty of the press, which it was much for his interest to abridge. The errors of his conduct, the mystery of that corruption which he had so successfully reduced to a system, and all the blemishes of his administration, had been exposed and ridiculed, not only in political periodical writings produced by the most eminent hands, but likewise in a succession of theatrical pieces, which met with uncommon success among the people. He either wanted judgment to distinguish men of genius, or could find none that would engage in his service; he therefore employed a set of wretched authors, void of understanding and ingenuity. They undertook the defence of his ministry, and answered the animadversions of his antagonists. The match was so extremely unequal, that, instead of justifying his conduct, they exposed it to additional ridicule and contempt; and he saw himself in danger of being despised by the whole nation. He resolved to seize the first opportunity to choke those canals through which the torrent of censure had flowed upon his character. The manager of a play-house communicated to him a manuscript farce, intituled, The Golden Rump, which was fraught with treason and abuse upon the government, and had been presented to the stage for exhibition. This performance was produced in the house of commons. The minister descanted upon the insolence, the malice, the immorality, and the seditious calumny which had been of late propagated in theatrical pieces. A bill was brought in to limit the number of playhouses; to subject all dramatic writings to the inspection of the lord chamberlain; and to compel them to take out a license for every production before it could appear on the stage. Notwithstanding a vigorous opposition, this bill passed through both houses with extraordinary despatch, and obtained the royal sanction. In this debate the earl of Chesterfield distinguished himself by an excellent speech, that will ever endear his character to all the friends of genius and literature, to all those who are warmed with zeal for the liberties of their country. "Our stage," said he, "ought certainly to be kept in due bounds; but for this purpose, our laws as they stand at present are sufficient. If our stage-players at any time exceed those bounds, they ought to be prosecuted; they may be punished. We have precedents, we have examples of persons punished for things less criminal than some pieces which have been lately represented; a new law must, therefore unnecessary; and in the present case it cannot be unnecessary without being dangerous. Every unnecessary restraint is a fetter upon the legs, is a shackle upon the hands, of liberty. One of the greatest blessings we enjoy, one of the greatest blessings a people can enjoy, is liberty. But every good in this life has its allay of evil. Licentiousness is the allay of liberty. It is an ebullition, an excrescence; it is a speck upon the eye of the political body, which I can never touch but with a gentle, with a trembling hand; lest I destroy the body, lest I injure the eye, upon which it is apt to appear. If the stage becomes at any time licentious, if a play appears to be a libel upon the government, or upon any particular man, the king's courts are open; the law is sufficient to punish the offender. If poets and players are to be restrained, let them be restrained as other subjects are, by the known laws of their country; if they offend, let them be tried as every Englishman ought to be, by God and their country. Do not let us subject them to the arbitrary will and pleasure of any one man. A power lodged in the hands of a single man to judge and determine without limitation, control, or appeal, is a sort of power unknown to our laws, inconsistent with our constitution. It is a higher, a more absolute power than we trust even to the king himself; and, therefore, I must think we ought not to vest any such power in his majesty's lord-chamberlain." His arguments had no effect, though the house admired his elocution; and the play-house bill passed into a law. On the twenty-first day of June the king made a short speech to both houses, and the lord chancellor prorogued the parliament.
CHAPTER III.
The Russians take Oczakow..... Death of Gaston de Medeis, Duke of Tuscany..... Death of Caroline, Queen Consort of England..... Dispute in Parliament about the Standing Army..... Spanish Depredations..... Motives of the Minister for avoiding a War..... Address to the King on the Subject of the Depredations..... Bill for Securing the Trade, of his Majesty's Subjects in America..... Debates in the House of Lords..... Birth of Prince George..... Admiral Haddock sails with a Squadron to the Mediterranean..... Progress of the War against the Turks..... Dispute and Rupture between Hanover and Denmark..... Sir Robert Walpole extols the Convention in the House of Commons—-Motion for an Address, that the Representations, Letters, &c, relating to the Spanish Depredations, should be laid before the House..... Petitions against the Convention..... Substance of that Agreement..... Debate in the House of Commons on the Convention..... Secession of the chief Members in the Opposition..... Debate in the House of Lords upon an Address to his Majesty touching the Convention..... Message from the Throne touching a Subsidy to Denmark, and a Power to augment the Forces of the Kingdom..... Parliament prorogued..... The King of Spain publishes a Manifesto..... The Emperor and Czarina conclude a Peace with the Turks..... Preparations for War in England..... Apology in the House of Commons for the seceding Members..... Pension Bill revived, and lost..... Porto Bello taken by Admiral Vernon..... Hard Frost..... Marriage of the Princess Mary to the Prince of Hesse..... Strong Armament sent to the West Indies..... Death of the Emperor and Czarina..... Proceedings in Parliament..... Seamen's Bill..... Discontents against the Ministry..... Motion for removing Sir Robert Walpole from his Majesty's Councils and Presence for ever..... Debate on the Mutiny Bill..... Proceedings in the House of Lords..... Close of the last Session of this Parliament
THE RUSSIANS TAKE OCZAKOW.
A congress had been opened at Niemerow in Poland, to compromise the differences between the czarina and the grand seignor; but this proving ineffectual, the emperor declared war against the Turks, and demanded assistance from the diet of the empire. He concerted the operations of the campaign with the empress of Muscovy. It was agreed that the Imperialists, under count Seckendorf, should attack Widdin in Servia; while the Russians, commanded by count de Munich, should penetrate to the Ukraine, and besiege Oczakow, on the Roristhenes. They accordingly advanced against this place, which was garrisoned by twenty thousand men, and on the side of the Roristhenes defended by eighteen galleys. The Muscovites carried on their approaches with such impetuosity and perseverance, that the Turks were terrified at their valour, and in a few days capitulated. Among those who signalized themselves by uncommon marks of prowess in these attacks, was general Keith, now field-marshal in the Prussian service, who was dangerously wounded on this occasion. Meanwhile count Seckendorf, finding it impossible to reduce Widdin without a squadron of ships on the Danube, turned his arms against Nissa, which was surrendered to him on the eight-and-twentieth day of July; but this was the farthest verge of his good fortune. The Turks attacked the post which the Imperialists occupied along the Danube. They took the fort of Padudil, burned the town of Has in Wallachia, and plundered the neighbouring villages. The prince of Saxe-Hilburghausen, who had invested Bagnalack in Bosnia, was defeated, and obliged to repass the Saave. Count Seckendorf was recalled to Vienna; and the command of the army devolved upon count Philippe. Count Kevenhuller was obliged to retreat from Servia; and Nissa was retaken by the Mussulmen. The conferences at Niemerow were broken off; and the Turkish plenipotentiaries returned to Constantinople.
The kingdom of Poland now enjoyed the most perfect repose under the dominion of Augustus. Ferdinand, the old duke of Courland, dying without issue, the succession was disputed by the Teutonic order and the kingdom of Poland, while the states of Courland claimed a right of election, and sent deputies to Petersburgh, imploring the protection of the czarina. A body of Russian troops immediately entered that country; and the states elected the count de Biron, high chamberlain to the empress of Muscovy. The elector of Cologn, as grand-master of the Teutonic order, protested against this election; but the king of Poland agreed to it, on certain conditions settled at Dantzic with the commissiaries of the new duke and those of the czarina. In the month of July, John Gaston de Medicis, great duke of Tuscany, died at Florence; and the prince de Craon took possession of his territories in the name of the duke of Lorraine, to whom the emperor had already granted the eventual investiture of that duchy.
DEATH OF CAROLINE, QUEEN CONSORT.
In England the attention of the public was attracted by an open breach in the royal family. The princess of Wales had advanced to the very last month of her pregnancy before the king and queen were informed of her being with child. She was twice conveyed from Hampton-Court to the palace of St. James', when her labour-pains were supposed to be approaching; and at length was delivered of a princess in about two hours after her arrival. The king being apprised of this event, sent a message by the earl of Essex to the prince, expressing his displeasure at the conduct of his royal highness, as an indignity offered to himself and the queen. The prince deprecated his majesty's anger in several submissive letters, and implored the queen's mediation. The princess joined her entreaties to those of his royal highness; but all their humility and supplication proved ineffectual. The king, in another message sent by the duke of Grafton, observed, that the prince had removed the princess twice in the week immediately preceding the day of her delivery, from the place of his majesty's residence, in expectation of her labour; and both times, on his return, industriously concealed from the knowledge of the king and queen every circumstance relating to this important affair; that at last, without giving any notice to their majesties, he had precipitately hurried the princess from Hampton-Court in a condition not to be named; that the whole tenor of his conduct, for a considerable time, had been so entirely void of all real duty to the king, that his majesty had reason to be highly offended with him. He gave him to understand, that until he should withdraw his regard and confidence from those by whose instigation and advice he was directed and encouraged in his unwarrantable behaviour to his majesty and the queen, and return to his duty, he should not reside in the palace; he therefore signified his pleasure that he should leave St. James', with all his family, when it could be done without prejudice or inconvenience to the princess. In obedience to this order the prince retired to Kew, and made other efforts to be readmitted into his majesty's favour, which, however, he could not retrieve. Whatever might have been his design in concealing so long from the king and queen the pregnancy of the princess, and afterwards hurrying her from place to place in such a condition, to the manifest hazard of her life, his majesty had certainly cause to be offended at this part of his conduct; though the punishment seems to have been severe, if not rigorous; for he was not even admitted into the presence of the queen his mother, to express his duty to her in her last moments, to implore her forgiveness, and receive her last blessing. She died of a mortification in her bowels, on the twentieth day of November, in the fifty-fifth year of her age, regretted as a princess of uncommon sagacity, and as a pattern of conjugal virtue.
DISPUTE IN PARLIAMENT.
The king opened the session of parliament on the twenty-fourth day of January, with a short speech recommending the despatch of the public business with prudence and unanimity. Each house presented a warm address of condolence on the queen's death, with which he seemed to be extremely affected. Though the house of commons unanimously sympathised with the king in his affliction, the minister still met with contradiction in some of his favourite measures. One would imagine that all the arguments for and against a standing army in time of peace had been already exhausted; but, when it was moved that the same number of land forces which they had voted in the preceding year should be continued in pay for the ensuing year, the dispute was renewed with surprising vivacity, and produced some reasons which had not been suggested before. The adherents of the minister fairly owned, that if the army should be disbanded, or even considerably reduced, they believed the tory interest would prevail; that the present number of forces was absolutely necessary to maintain the peace of the kingdom, which was filled with clamour and discontent, as well as to support the whig interest; and that they would vote for keeping up four times the number, should it be found expedient for that purpose. The members in the opposition replied, that this declaration was a severe satire on the ministry, whose conduct had given birth to such a spirit of discontent. They said it was in effect a tacit acknowledgment, that what they called the whig interest was no more than an inconsiderable party, which had engrossed the administration by indirect methods; which acted contrary to the sense of the nation; and depended for support upon a military power, by which the people in general were overawed, and consequently enslaved. They affirmed, that the discontent of which the ministry complained, was in a great measure owing to that very standing army, which perpetuated their taxes, and hung over their heads as the instruments of arbitrary power and oppression. Lord Polworth explained the nature of whig principles, and demonstrated that the party which distinguished itself by this appellation, no longer retained the maxims by which the whigs were originally characterised. Sir John Hinde Cotton, who spoke with the courage and freedom of an old English baron, declared, he never knew a member of that house who acted on true whig principles, vote for a standing army in time of peace. "I have heard of whigs," said he, "who opposed all unlimited votes of credit; I have heard of whigs who looked upon corruption as the greatest curse that could befall any nation; I have heard of whigs who esteemed the liberty of the press to be the most valuable privilege of a free people, and triennial parliaments as the greatest bulwark of their liberties; and I have heard of a whig administration which has resented injuries done to the trade of the nation, and revenged insults offered to the British flag." The ministry triumphed as usual, and the same number of forces was continued.
SPANISH DEPREDATIONS.
Ever since the treaty of Seville, the Spaniards in America had almost incessantly insulted and distressed the commerce of Great Britain. They disputed the right of English traders to cut logwood in the bay of Campeachy, and gather salt in the island of Tortugas; though that right was acknowledged by implication in all the treaties which had been lately concluded between the two nations. The captains of their armed vessels, known by the name of guarda-costas, had made a practice of boarding and plundering British ships, on pretence of searching for contraband commodities, on which occasions they had behaved with the utmost insolence, cruelty, and rapine. Some of their ships of war had actually attacked a fleet of English merchant ships at the island of Tortugas, as if they had been at open enmity with England. They had seized and detained a great number of British vessels, imprisoned their crews, and confiscated their cargoes, in violation of treaties, in defiance of common justice and humanity. Repeated memorials were presented to the court of Spain, by the British ambassador at Madrid. He was amused with evasive answers, vague promises of inquiry, and cedulas of instructions sent to the Spanish governors in America, to which they paid no sort of regard. Not but that the Spaniards had reason to complain in their turn, of the illicit commerce which the English traders from Jamaica and other islands, carried on with their subjects on the continent of South America; though this could not justify the depredations and cruelties which the commanders of the guarda-costas had committed, without provocation or pretence.
MOTIVES FOR AVOIDING A WAR.
The merchants of England loudly complained of these outrages; the nation was fired with resentment, and cried for vengeance; but the minister appeared cold, phlegmatic, and timorous. He knew that a war would involve him in such difficulties as must of necessity endanger his administration. The treasure which he now employed for domestic purposes, must in that case be expended in military armaments; the wheels of that machine on which he had raised his influence would no longer move; the opposition would of consequence gain ground, and the imposition of fresh taxes, necessary for the maintenance of the war, would fill up the measure of popular resentment against his person and ministry. Moved by these considerations, he industriously endeavoured to avoid a rupture, and to obtain some sort of satisfaction by dint of memorials and negotiations, in which he betrayed his own fears to such a degree, as animated the Spaniards to persist in their depredations, and encouraged the court of Madrid to disregard the remonstrances of the British ambassador. But this apprehension of war did not proceed from Spain only; the two branches of the house of Bourbon were now united by politics, as well as by consanguinity; and he did not doubt that in case of a rupture with Spain, they would join their forces against Great Britain. Petitions were delivered to the house by merchants from different parts of the kingdom, explaining the repeated violences to which they had been exposed, and imploring relief of the parliament. These were referred to a committee of the whole house; and an order was made to admit the petitioners, if they should think fit, to be heard by themselves or by counsel. Sir John Barnard moved for an address to the king, that all the memorials and papers relating to the Spanish depredations should be laid before the house; and this, with some alteration proposed by sir Robert Walpole, was actually presented. In compliance with the request, an enormous multitude of letters and memorials was produced.
The house, in a grand committee, proceeded to hear counsel for the merchants, and examine evidence; by which it appeared that amazing acts of wanton cruelty and injustice had been perpetrated by Spaniards on the subjects of Great Britain. Mr. Pulteney expatiated upon these circumstances of barbarity. He demonstrated, from treaties, the right of the British traders to the logwood of Campeachy, and to the salt of Tortugas; he exposed the pusillanimity of the minister, and the futility of his negotiations; he moved for such resolutions as would evince the resentment of an injured nation, and the vigour of a British parliament. These were warmly combated by sir Robert Walpole, who affirmed, that they would cramp the ministers in their endeavours to compromise these differences; that they would frustrate their negotiations, intrench upon the king's prerogative, and precipitate the nation into an unnecessary and expensive war. Answers produced replies, and a general debate ensued. A resolution was reported; but the question being put for recommitting it, was carried in the negative. The house, however, agreed to an address, beseeching his majesty to use his endeavours to obtain effectual relief for his injured subjects, to convince the court of Spain that his majesty could no longer suffer such constant and repeated insults and injuries to be carried on, to the dishonour of his crown, and to the ruin of his trading subjects; and assuring him, that in case his royal and friendly instances with the catholic king should miscarry, the house would effectually support his majesty in taking such measures as honour and justice should make it necessary for him to pursue. To this address the king made a favourable answer.
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BILL FOR SECURING THE TRADE IN AMERICA.
The next important subject on which both sides exercised their talents, was a bill prepared and brought in by Mr. Pulteney, for the more effectual securing the trade of his majesty's subjects in America. This was no other than the revival of part of two acts passed in the reign of queen Anne, by which the property of all prizes taken from the enemy was vested in the captors; while the sovereign was empowered to grant commissions or charters to any persons or societies, for taking any ships, goods, harbours, lands, or fortifications of the nation's enemies in America, and for holding and enjoying the same as their own property and estate for ever. The ministry endeavoured to evade the discussion of this bill, by amusing the house with other business, until an end should be put to the session. A mean artifice was practised with this view; and some severe altercation passed between sir Robert Walpole and Mr. Pulteney. At length the bill was read, and gave rise to a very long and warm contest, in which the greatest orators of both sides found opportunities to display their eloquence and satire. Mr. Pulteney defended the bill with all the ardour of paternal affection; but, notwithstanding his warmest endeavours, it was rejected upon a division.
When the mutiny bill was sent up to the house of lords, a long debate arose upon the number of troops voted for the ensuing year. Lord Carteret explained the situation of affairs, in almost every nation of Europe, with great conciseness and precision. He demonstrated the improbability of a rupture between Great Britain and any power against which a land army could be of any service. He examined the domestic circumstances of the nation; and proved that whatever discontents there might be in the kingdom, there was little or no disaffection, and no seeming design to overturn or disturb the government. In answer to an argument, that such a number of regular forces were necessary for preventing or quelling tumults, and for enabling the civil magistrate to execute the laws of his country, he expressed his hope that he should never see the nation reduced to such unfortunate circumstances: he said, a law which the civil power was unable to execute, must either be in itself oppressive, or such a one as afforded a handle for oppression. In arguing for a reduction of the forces, he took notice of the great increase of the national expense. He observed, that before the revolution, the people of England did not raise above two millions for the whole of the public charges; but now what was called the current expense, for which the parliament annually provided, exceeded that sum; besides the civil list, the interest due to the public creditors, and the sinking fund, which, added together, composed a burden of six millions yearly. The earl of Chesterfield, on the same subject, affirmed, that slavery and arbitrary power were the certain consequences of keeping up a standing army for any number of years. It is the machine by which the chains of slavery are rivetted upon a free people. They may be secretly prepared by corruption; but, unless a standing army protected those that forged them, the people would break them asunder, and chop off the polluted hands by which they were prepared. By degrees a free people must be accustomed to be governed by an army; by degrees that army must be made strong enough to hold them in subjection. England had for many years been accustomed to a standing army, under the pretence of its being necessary to assist the civil power; and by degrees the number and strength of it have been increasing. At the accession of the late king it did not exceed six thousand; it soon amounted to double that number, which has been since augmented under various pretences. He therefore concluded, that slavery, under the disguise of an army for protecting the liberties of the people, was creeping in upon them by degrees; if no reduction should be made, he declared he should expect in a few years to hear some minister, or favourite of a minister, terrifying the house with imaginary plots and invasions, and making the tour of Europe in search of possible dangers, to show the necessity of keeping up a mercenary standing army, three times as numerous as the present. In spite of those suggestions, the standing army maintained its ground. The same noblemen, assisted by lord Bathurst, distinguished themselves in a debate upon the Spanish depredations, which comprehended the same arguments that were used in the house of commons. They met with the same success in both. Resolutions equivalent to those of the lower house were taken; an address was presented; and his majesty assured them he would repeat, in the most pressing manner, his instances at the court of Spain, in order to obtain satisfaction and security for his subjects trading to America. This assurance was renewed in his speech at the close of the session, on the twentieth of May, when the parliament was prorogued.
BIRTH OF PRINCE GEORGE.
At this period the princess of Wales was delivered of a son, who was baptised by the name of George, now king of Great Britain. His birth was celebrated with uncommon rejoicings: addresses of congratulation were presented to the king by the two universities, and by almost all the cities and communities of the kingdom. But the prince of Wales still laboured under the displeasure of his majesty, who had ordered the lord-chamberlain to signify in the gazette, that no person who visited the prince should be admitted to the court of St. James'. His royal highness was divested of all the external marks of royalty, and lived like a private gentleman, cultivating the virtues of a social life, and enjoying the best fruits of conjugal felicity. In the latter end of this month, rear-admiral Haddock set sail with a strong squadron for the Mediterranean, which it was hoped would give weight to the negotiation of the British minister at the court of Madrid. The act to discourage the retail of spirituous liquors had incensed the populace to such a degree, as occasioned numberless tumults in the cities of London and Westminster. They were so addicted to the use of that pernicious compound, known by the appellation of gin or geneva, that they ran all risks rather than forego it entirely; and so little regard was paid to the law by which it was prohibited, that in less than two years twelve thousand persons within the bills of mortality were convicted of having sold it illegally. Nearly one half of that number were cast in the penalty of one hundred pounds; and three thousand persons paid ten pounds each, for an exemption from the disgrace of being committed to the house of correction.
PROGRESS of the WAR AGAINST the TURKS.
The war maintained by the emperor and the czarina against the Ottoman Porte, had not yet produced any decisive event. Count Seckendorf was disgraced and confined on account of his ill success in the last campaign. General Doxat was tried by a council of war at Belgrade, and condemned to death, for having surrendered to the enemy the town of Nissa, in which he commanded. The diet of the empire granted a subsidy of fifty Roman months to the emperor, who began to make vigorous preparations for the ensuing campaign; but, in the meantime, Ragotski, vaivode of Transylvania, revolted against the house of Austria, and brought a considerable army into the field, under the protection of the grand seignor. He was immediately proclaimed a rebel, and a price set upon his head by the court of Vienna. The Turks taking the field early, reduced the forts of Usitza and Meadia, and undertook the siege of Orsova; which however they abandoned at the approach of the Imperial army, commanded by the grand duke of Tuscany, assisted by count Konigsegg. The Turks, being reinforced, marched back and attacked the Imperialists, by whom they were repulsed after an obstinate engagement. The Germans, notwithstanding this advantage, repassed the Danube; and then the infidels made themselves masters of Orsova, where they found a fine train of artillery, designed for the siege of Widdin. By the conquest of this place, the Turks laid the Danube open to their galleys and vessels; and the Germans retired under the cannon of Belgrade. In the Ukraine, the Russians, under general count Munich, obtained the advantage over the Turks in two engagements; and general Lasci routed the Tartars of the Crimea; but they returned in greater numbers, and harassed the Muscovites in such a manner, by intercepting their provisions, and destroying the country, that they were obliged to abandon the lines of Precops. |
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